Belladonna Black and the Book of Necromancy
by BelladonnaCarinaBlack
Summary: James Sirius Potter and Belladonna Black have always been lied to. Bel always knew about magic, but has never seen Quidditch, Diagon Alley, or even left Malfoy Manor. James grew up surrounded by whispers his friends Victorie and Teddy refuse to explain. Each went to Hogwarts looking for answers, but some questions shouldn't be asked for some answers can bring the past back to life.
1. After The Battle

**Messers. Moody, Spitfire, and Sprat**

 **Purveyors of Aids to the Harry Potter-Starved**

 **are proud to present**

 **BELLADONNA BLACK**

 **AND THE BOOK OF NECROMANCY**

 **Full Text Available on:**

 **www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**

 **Thirteen years after The Battle of Hogwarts, two wizarding children are about to embark on their own adventure. They both have been lied to their entire lives, one to protect her from the wrath of the wizarding world, and the other to protect him from the love of the wizarding world. Before their first year is over, secrets will be revealed, friendships will be tested, and death itself will never be the same.**

 **Belladonna Black has known about magic her entire life, but she has never seen a game of Quidditch, never been to Diagon Alley, and never even left Malfoy Manor. Her best friends Scorpius Malfoy and Catherine Goyle, even though they are two years younger, have always been free to do these things, with one condition: they must never mention Belladonna to the outside world. Why do the eyes of every adult in the Manor follow Belladonna wherever she goes?**

 **James Potter has grown up on the fringes of the wizarding world, surrounded by his extended family, and parent's friends. He does not know why whispers always follow his family whenever they venture into public, perhaps it is because his mother is a former professional Quidditch player, and his father is Head of the Auror Department. His best friends, Edward Lupin and Victoire Weasley, are already at Hogwarts, and know the answer, but aren't telling. What causes the whispers?**

 **Each went to Hogwarts looking for answers, but what they find is more than they bargained for. Because they are not the only people at Hogwarts looking for answers. And some questions should not even be asked, for the answers can do more than reveal the past, some answers can bring it back to life.**

 **Authors' Note: The authors of this book hawe made one intentional departure from established cannon as of March 2016. The birth of The Potter Children has been mowed up a fev years to facilitate the plot. In this Fanfic, only the books and the mowies vhere they do not conflict vith the books are considered canon, but details from Pottermore, interwievs, and other sources vill be included vhere possible.**

 **For Best Results View as a PDF by going to** **www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**

 **Audiobook Available On Youtube**

 **We do not own Harry Potter. Obviously.**

 **After The Battle**

The cloaked man limped hurriedly through the tall dark trees, tripping over their roots as he cursed the little witch whose jinx had seared his leg. Exhausted, Yaxley leaned against the tree as he once again tried to disapparate. "Still inside the grounds," the wizard muttered under his breath as he once again began to limp another one hundred meters before repeating the procedure.

Through his cursing, Yaxley suddenly heard the distant sound of pursuit — snapping twigs and the shouting of young voices. Yaxley broke into a desperate shuffling run. He was the only one of the inner circle who had not been on the front lines earlier that night—the only one likely to escape, certainly with his freedom, and perhaps with his life. If he did not escape the Hogwarts grounds, all that was not already lost would be gone. The sounds of those cursed students told Yaxley that they were taking two long steps to each of his short tortured ones. Yaxley would fight if he must, but it was better to run. Someone had to reach the girl before the Ministry found her, and he was the only one left. Just as Yaxley thought that he had somehow lost his way, he felt a sensation like passing through a single sheet of mist and Yaxley let out a soft sigh of relief. He was free.

Long before his pursuers could ever have seen him, Yaxley disapparated hundreds of kilometers away into a small side alley off a busy London street. The smell of dank air assaulted his nose, as small creatures scurried away from the intruder. The alley that was usually lifeless tonight held a sleeping beggar who had been awakened by the sharp crack of Yaxley's arrival. The small old man wrapped in a ragged blanket blinked blearily at the strange sight before him. A man in a long black cloak with a silver mask hanging from his belt. Even more disturbing was the hole in his leg that was seeping blood. But most disturbing of all to the beggar, though he could not have explained why, was the polished black stick that was currently being brandished at his face.

Yaxley was as startled by the beggar in the alley as the beggar was by Yaxley. "Bloody Hell!" he exclaimed as he hastily trained his wand on the old muggle's face. Usually, the Death Eater would have just ignored both the complex orders of the Dark Lord and the muggle in the alley, but tonight of all nights protocol must be followed. _No evidence can be left behind of my passage_ , thought Yaxley.

The tip of the wand glowed and Yaxley whispered "Obliviate." The muggle's eyes glazed over and he slumped back to the ground, all traces of Yaxley wiped from his mind. Leaving the muggle behind, Yaxley cast a disillusionment charm upon himself and joined the crowd moving along the street for the requisite kilometer. Satisfied that he was not being followed, Yaxley again disapparated to another alley, and there walked along unnoticed. This operation was to be repeated three times before an approach was ever made to the house. _Some had said the Dark Lord had grown paranoid near the end, but tonight,_ thought Yaxley, _the precautions do not seem quite as silly as they had in the past._

The house was at the end of a long wooded drive, and it relied on the anonymity provided by the hundreds of muggle houses surrounding it for protection rather than layers of charms. As Yaxley strode up the drive he tried to decide where to go after he collected the child. They could not stay here, that was a certainty. The number of Death Eaters who knew the secret the house contained had always seemed small, too small at times. With the defeat a few hours earlier, that number had multiplied into nothing but potential traitors. Even someone who would rather die than reveal the existence of the child might not have that choice. Not in the hands of the Ministry.

The door of the house was heavy and could only be opened with a wand as there was no keyhole. This was considered a necessary precaution, as although the child's squib caretaker was bound by loyalty as well as spells, one could never be too careful. This was yet another precaution taken by the Dark Lord that Yaxley was intensely grateful for tonight, as news of the defeat would travel on the wings of rumor. _It may have even beaten me here,_ Yaxley thought. _The woman…I can never remember her name… might have tried to flee the house before the Ministry inevitably found it. It was better that she could not take the child even if she wanted to._

Yaxley sensed two heartbeats in the house, one slow and labored, and the other the quick light beats of the very young. The sounds emanated from the largest room on the second floor of the house. _They were in the child's nursery then._ Yaxley climbed the stairs to the second floor, wincing occasionally when his wounded leg twinged as it hit the treads.

Yaxley's eyes scanned the room as he stepped through the door, and he found the old woman sitting in a rocking chair facing the window. The first buds of spring were just visible on the branches of an oak tree through the panes of glass. She was holding the sleeping child in her arms, rocking slowly back and forth. It took a moment for her to notice Yaxley in the doorway, and she gave a little jump of fright, although she really should be used to strange people appearing unexpectedly at all hours of the day and night. The woman shook herself, stood up, and laid the child in a crib that was pushed against the wall next to the window. _Hannah…that was her name_ , thought Yaxley as she cautiously approached him.

Yaxley was still standing in the doorway, and as Hannah approached the Death Eater, the moonlight filtering through the leaves of the tree outside the window illuminated his face enough to render him recognizable. She let out the breath that she had been holding since she sensed the other presence in the room. _It was only Yaxley. Not exactly a welcome visitor, but not as bad as it could have been. Not nearly as bad as it could have been._ "Hello Sir," said Hannah, valiantly keeping her voice from shaking. Almost.

The moonlight also illuminated the squib's face for Yaxley. _She was tense, as she should be,_ he thought to himself with a little flicker of pleasure. _All the things this woman has seen and she still fears me._ _However she was not terrified, as she would have been if the news of the defeat had already reached her ears. But how could she have known, a squib and a baby locked alone in a house?_ Yaxley cleared his throat and ordered "Come downstairs, I have need of you in the kitchen." He turned and stalked out of the room and down the stairs, trying vainly not to limp. He did not even wait to see if Hannah would follow him.

When he reached the kitchen, Yaxley flicked his wand at the lights, and they flared into sudden brightness. He collapsed into the nearest chair, and finally allowed his eyes to close for a few moments until he heard her heavy tread on the bottom stair. Yaxley propped his leg, still bleeding, on the other wicker chair and watched the open doorway. His eyes followed Hannah as she entered the room and he saw her eyes widen as they fell upon his leg. Hannah had not really been surprised when Yaxley had appeared upstairs, because for the past five months they had always come unexpectedly. Ever since she took this job to keep her granddaughter out of Azkaban for 'stealing magic' every few days one or another of them had shown up to check on the baby. It was not the visits of the ordinary Death Eaters that she had come to truly dread. But this was not what usually happened. This was so far outside the norm as to be as frightening as the _other_ visits. No injured Death Eater had ever come to check on the child. The whispers of a battle that she had been hearing for the past three weeks must have been true. And by the looks of it, things had not gone well for her masters. These thoughts passed through Hannah's head in the few seconds that Yaxley's eyes had been boring into hers. She felt her blood turn to ice.

The woman stood frozen just over the threshold and Yaxley was suddenly filled with annoyance at his situation. "You were a muggle midwife before we found you, were you not squib…using your small knowledge of potions to trick them?" he growled. Hannah's head started to nod feverishly and Yaxley grinned a sickly smile. "What are you waiting for then?" She scurried out of the room, looking for the basket that she had brought with her into this new existence.

The woven basket was on the top shelf of the hall closet, and she had to climb onto a living room armchair in order to reach it. _It is at times like these,_ Hannah reflected, feeling a twinge of annoyance despite the circumstances, _that being born a squib is a real pain._ When she at last grasped the handle and had brought the basket to rest on the armchair, Hannah considered her options. _There is a vial of essence of Murtlap, and some bandages. That would heal the awful Yaxley, but there is also a little left in the bottom of the hemlock bottle. A little of that on his wound and well… my Yaxley problem would be gone forever._ Hannah stared at the two little bottles winking up at her from their velvety nest and deliberated. After a few seconds she picked up the bandages and the Murtlap. _It is probably better not to risk it. The Death Eaters—awful as they are—have never harmed me, and if Yaxley caught me I would be the one gone forever._

After what seemed to be an interminably long interval to Yaxley and his throbbing leg, Hannah reappeared with her arms full of bandages and glass bottles. His eyes followed her as she took a few little bowls out of the cupboards and filled one of them with water. The old woman took a seat on the other wicker chair and examined his leg. It did not look overly pleasant, as little bits of sticks and leaves from the Forbidden Forest had become encrusted upon the still-bleeding wound in his flight from the castle.

Hannah began to clean the wound with the water and her precious potions. As she worked, her fear of Yaxley began to dissipate. He could not even keep still as she worked on his leg. He was constantly flinching slightly away from her as she pulled off the leaves and scrubbed away the dirt. The Death Eater almost pulled his leg off the table when she rubbed the Murtlap on the leg before wrapping and pinning it. Comforted by the familiar routine, when she had finished Hannah brusquely said, "You can take off the bandages by morning, and you can walk on it in about half an hour."

Yaxley gave a tight little smile at this. He had been afraid that he would have to wait to leave the house until morning. His leg would not have held his weight much longer, much less that of a child who would soon no longer be a baby. Besides, before he left he would need some more information before he could take the child away from this place forever. "How long have you been with the child?" asked Yaxley.

Hannah started at the unusual question. Most of the time her visitors confined their few questions to 'Is the child healthy' and 'Does she need anything'. Hannah's answers usually amounted to yes, and no…the money and the quick trips to the shops in Diagon Alley with her escort of the week were more than enough. In fact in the months of the child's life this routine had only been broken once, when at six weeks the baby had fought a chill. After that experience, Hannah would gladly pray to any god who would listen that the baby would never so much as sneeze again. Busying herself for a few seconds of clearing away the bowls and scraps of cloth she decided that the truth in as few words as possible was her best option. "I was hired because I was working as a midwife, and after the birth they kept me on to care for the baby," replied Hannah. She returned to her seat by the table.

"You helped at the birth?" asked Yaxley. That was the end of the squib then. If she could provide proof of the child's parentage she could not be allowed to leave alive, even with her memory modified. Not that there was ever much chance of Hannah being allowed to leave alive even before the disastrous events of the last few hours."Yes," Hannah replied suddenly reading a slight change in Yaxley…one that she did not like. She hurried on, "I am essential to the child's well being, I have been her nanny from her first breath."

Yaxley eagerly leaned forward in his seat and continued to question the woman. "What exactly do you do for the child? What does she need?"

So Hannah told him. Because she had sensed that when she finally ran out of things to say a decision would be made, she told him as much as she could remember in extreme detail. Every feeding and story that had gone into the child's short life went into her tale. When she finally ran out of things to say she looked into Yaxley's eyes.

Yaxley stood up on his half-mended leg. "Thank you," he said to the woman. As he brought up his wand her eyes widened and she bolted for the door, instinct taking over even as she must have known that it would not open for her. Yaxley's wand finally pointed at her chest and his whispered spell flew into her heart, stopping it in an instant. He was already turning to leave the room as her body fell to the floor. Once again in the girl's nursery, he approached the crib under the window. She must have heard something of the scuffle downstairs because she was sitting up in her crib. In the moonlight, Yaxley could see her blinking those strange eyes—green as the leaves on the tree outside her window. Some said those strange eyes, so unlike her parents', were what had caused her exile to the little house. Others said that she would have been hidden away even if she had been the reincarnation of Salazar Slytherin himself. She made no protest as Yaxley lifted her from her crib and took her out of the only house she had ever known. She was asleep before Yaxley's feet stopped crunching on the gravel of the drive. As soon as they were at a safe distance he turned to face the house one last time. When he turned back, a fire was already consuming it.

Tomorrow he would decide where to take her. Some would surely escape Azkaban, through flight or simply through the Ministry's helpful insistence on evidence in trials. Even the Malfoys would probably wriggle out of things again. They could always simply bribe themselves out of trouble. All Yaxley had to do was keep the last hope hidden until things settled down.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at** **www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**


	2. The Hidden Girl

The Hidden Girl

The girl staring back at her from the mirror did not look very happy. In fact she looked positively livid. Her wild black hair was doing its usual impression of a centaur's mane. Bel was fairly sure that the curls had managed to eat several bobby pins, but as it would be impossible to find them in the mass she could not prove it. Even though she was much too old for the stool that she was standing on, she had to use it in order to see the mirror on her dresser. Her cheeks stood out red against her pale skin, as they always did when Bel was angry. Her bright green eyes flashed in the mirror. On top of all that, they were threatening to keep her back from Hogwarts this year. Again!

Bel was not supposed to know this yet of course, but even if she was forbidden to ever leave the grounds of Malfoy Manor, Scorpius and Cat were allowed more freedom. Not very much, but enough to smuggle some extendable ears from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes into the house. The three of them had been tutored together in the Manor since she was five, and it was not very many years after that that they had begun to listen at doors. It was Cat's idea, as they always were, but after the first few tours on kitchen duty, Bel had taken over the planning and execution of their escapades. It had always been obvious that theirs was not a normal childhood, and that the rules that applied only to _her_ were even more draconian than those that governed her friends. But it was only after they started eavesdropping that things started to get really strange.

It always started out the same way. Friends of Uncle Lucius, Scorpius's grandfather, would start to arrive just after midnight. They would appear on the front stoop in black cloaks and under the cover of darkness and they would stay exactly one day. She would be required to be at breakfast, all three of them were, but Scorpius and Cat were always allowed to eat in peace. Bel, however, had to endure an endless string of questions from the guests. When this was finally over, Bel and her friends would be sent out of the room. Lessons were always cancelled and they were left to their own devices while all the adults in the house locked themselves in the dining room. Not even the house elf, Saeth, was assigned to watch them.

This was the critical mistake made by the adults. For years there had been an illicit audience of three children trying to make sense of their lives from the scraps of information that filtered through the crack under the door. In the past six years of listening to these meetings two or three times a year, they had learned depressingly little. Most of the conversations were conducted in what could only be described as code. It was as if the witches and wizards in the room were worried about eavesdroppers much more important than three children. In fact, Bel and her accomplices had only learned three pieces of real information. The older witches and wizards in the room were what was left of the Dark Lord's inner circle of Death Eaters. This, while no doubt interesting to the Ministry of Magic, came as no surprise to any child growing up in the Manor with half a brain. The second was that Bel was, for some inscrutable reason, _important_ to them. The third was that they were deathly afraid that the truth, whatever it was, would come out if Bel were allowed to attend Hogwarts.

This was the life of secrets that Bel had lived for all thirteen years of her life, and she was sick of it. If the answer was at Hogwarts, then that was exactly where she was going to go. Two extra years trapped in the huge old house was enough, and she was going off to school with her younger friends. Bel stared at her alarm clock and sighed. She had stayed in her room too long and soon "BELLADONNA BLACK, CATHERINE GOYLE, SCORPIUS MALFOY GET DOWN HERE NOW!" that would happen. They were late and if they were not downstairs in thirty-seconds, Uncle Lucius would come and get them.

Bel bounced off her bed and darted out through the door. She was almost mowed down by Cat and Scorpius making a similar dash down the staircase. The fact that her friends had grown taller than her small frame in the past year only fueled her determination to escape. As the trio finally skidded to a halt in front of Lucius on the Persian rug at the bottom of the stairs they could hear the sounds of breakfast already being served and the hushed voices of wizards used to living in hiding, or on the edges of society. Lucius glared indiscriminately at all three of the children, even Scorpius, and growled, "Inside. Now."

Bel, Scorpius, and Cat filed into the room, past the two tables already occupied with twenty-five adults. Scorpius and Cat took one look at the smaller table occupied by the oldest of the adults and gratefully took their own seats at the larger table that included both sets of their parents. Bel herself walked past her friends and followed Lucius to the smaller table. There were only ten seats at the small table, and eight of them were already occupied. The seats at the very center of the table were unoccupied and Bel took her seat on the right of Uncle Lucius.

On Bel's right was her 'father' Argyre Yaxley. That lie was one of the first to unravel. For one thing they had never come up with a satisfactory story about her mother. In the span of two weeks, Bel, Scorpius, and Cat had collected six different stories on that topic from as many adults. They ranged from Uncle Lucius's 'she died before you were born,' Aunt Narcissa's 'her name was Emma and she died in the Battle,' to the classic 'err…let me think about it' from Yaxley himself. It also did not take a genius to figure out that the last names of children and parents usually match.

Breakfast was an interminable boor, and Bel must have answered a hundred questions from her table mates. As Saeth cleared the last plates of half-eaten eggs and sausages, Bel grabbed her chance to ask her question. "Yaxley said last year that this year I would be allowed to go to Hogwarts with Scorpius and Cat. I know that a special charm prevented the Ministry from recording my birth or putting the trace on me, but how is my name going to get back _on_ the list this year?"

A silence spread over the table; it was so thick it seemed to spread even to the clinking of silverware on china. Bel saw quick glances flitting between the adults, and as they centered on Uncle Lucius, Bel fastened her attention on him as well. Sure enough it was Uncle Lucius, not Yaxley, who answered her question. "We thought that since you were doing so well here it might be best for you to continue your education here at the Manor. You can get a wand from Ollivander's and start to learn some spellwork. That way you will be ahead of your classmates next year." He smiled kindly at her, obviously expecting her to agree quickly enough.

Throughout his speech Bel had felt her heart pounding furiously, and the magic that she always kept hidden deep in her chest started to well up faster than she could tamp it down. When Lucius smiled down at her she could contain it no longer. Her magic left her with the full force of an explosion and the room dissolved into chaos. The ancient goblin-made chandelier exploded into a thousand glimmering shards of crystal and fell onto the oak panels of the floor. Scorch marks appeared on the cream wallpaper as if kissed by an invisible, heatless flame. The Death Eaters instinctively cast shield charms, somewhat containing the carnage, while Scorpius and Cat dove under the table.

When Bel's magic had spent itself and the screaming of the wind had abated, the room once again fell silent. Even Bel's tears slowly slipping down her face were silent. She did not gasp for breath or shake, only stared into the distance with a glazed look in her eyes as tears fell onto her hands folded tightly in her lap. The adults in the room were shocked; Bel could see it in their faces. Bel had never lost control of her magic, not even in the little ways common to wizarding children. Wind had never appeared when she cried as a toddler, and no fire had conjured when she was angry. Her toys had always played back, but only when she willed them to. This may have been why they had felt comfortable putting off training her for so long while her magic had matured and grown stronger, Bel reflected. Now they were frightened and realized something had to be done. As the tears dried on her cheeks, Bel felt a smile growing on the inside. Perhaps she could work this to her advantage.

The next few weeks were a flurry of preparations, and there was no longer any talk of delaying Bel by another year. Bel was elated, and even the endless memorization and quizzing on her newly concocted cover story could not deflate her mood. Exactly one week after three creamy letters with emerald ink and fat purple wax seals had arrived by the morning owl post, the day that Bel would finally set foot in Diagon Alley had arrived. The chauffeur was driving the black Mercedes towards London. Bel, Scorpius, and Cat sat on the leather bench seats facing Scorpius' grandparents. It had been decided that taking all three children together would afford some protection, and as they had studied together for years it should not be considered too unusual. None of the parents were coming, as it would be obvious to anyone seeing them together that Yaxley and Bel were not closely related. The trip was an hour long and of course Uncle Lucius had decided that this would be the perfect time to conduct a final cross-examination of the children.

The questions flew quickly and all three were on their toes, as according to Uncle Lucius, a single wrong answer would land them each a one way ticket back to the Manor. "Why are you here with Belladonna?" fired Lucius.

Cat started and replied, "We are all tutored at Malfoy Manor. We started when we were five."

"Where are your parents?" This time it was directed at Scorpius. "They were busy, so my Grandparents offered to take us as a trip."

After a few minutes of this rapid fire questioning, Bel felt her heart sink as Uncle Lucius turned his steely gaze upon her. "I have never seen you around before. Who are you? When is your birthday?"

Bel tried to slow her heart, "My parents were Abraxos and Miranda Black. They died in the battle, and my Uncle Yaxley raised me. Until last year I was very sick, and Yax…Uncle Yaxley didn't think I would be able to go to Hogwarts."

"I was born on March 29th, and I turned 11 a few months ago." said Bel, but she thought the real answers to herself. _My name is Belladonna Black, and I have no parents, only lies. I don't know why I was never allowed out of Malfoy Manor or the brick house with the swing before it. I was always told that I was born on February 16th, 1997, but that could be a lie too. My entire life has been a lie, and I am going to find out why._

Uncle Lucius' questions finally subsided, and Bel dug out her precious letter from the pockets of her robe. Over the past weeks she had read it so many times that the envelope had become battered, and the emerald ink was smudged in places, but it was still legible.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

 _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmistress: MINERVA MCGONAGALL

 _(Order of Merlin, Second Class)_

Dear Miss Black,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Filius Flitwick,

 _Deputy Headmaster_

The other piece of parchment had been read nearly as many times, and Bel was oddly glad she had been able to keep her copy, as Uncle Lucius had taken Scorpius' to use as a shopping list.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

 _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_ by Miranda Goshawk

 _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot

 _Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling

 _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore

 _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Tremble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Bel carefuly refolded the parchment sheets and stuck them back in their envelope. She put the letter back in the pocket of her robes, and soon the outskirts of London started to appear outside of the windows of their Mercedes. For the first time Bel saw a muggle city and it was strange and wonderful. She had seen photos and videos of the outside world through the illicit internet connection and iPods that Scorpius had smuggled into the Manor courtesy of Weasley's. But the real thing felt very different—the muggle world no longer safely contained behind its glass case but swirling all around them, completely unaware of the existence of their world. It was scary and intoxicating.

Uncle Lucius must have taken pity on her, because upon seeing her nose pressed against the magical one-way glass of the car he ordered the driver to detour past some of the sights. Aunt Narcissa had moved next to Bel unnoticed and softly narrated the drive, pointing out the Eye, where the Millennium Bridge used to be (Uncle Lucius snorted at that point), the Tower, and Westminster Abbey. They spent over an hour touring the city and even Scorpius and Cat, who had seen London a few times before, were soon caught up in Bel's excitement. By the time they finally reached the alley where the Leaky Cauldron and the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley were located, all three were starving.

Uncle Lucius reached across the car and caught Bel's wrist as she leaped to open the door as soon as the car had stopped moving. His iron eyes locked upon hers as he reminded her one last time, "I can't emphasize enough how important it is for Bel that all three of you remember the story that we practiced, and stick to it no matter what happens. Even if you are..separated from Narcissa and I you must not panic—only say what we have rehearsed." Bel had never seen him look so old, and the silver slowly consuming the blond in his hair was more noticeable than ever before. But Uncle Lucius smiled and released her, "Come on then, let's find some food. You three have been complaining about your stomachs for the past half hour." So they all piled out of the Mercedes, which then drove off. Bel skipped toward the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, eager to finally meet the wizarding world she had heard about her entire life. The room was small and smoke-filled, with only a few patrons seated at the oak tables or the bar. Only a few glances followed the party as they quickly passed through the bar into the back courtyard. Uncle Lucius lifted his walking stick, and the snake's head beat a quick tattoo on the brick wall. Bel jumped back as the grinding of the bricks slowly revealed a passage onto a sunlit street. It meandered off into the distance, and it seemed to contain every wonder from the four corners of the world to Bel, and perhaps to Cat and Scorpius too, as she caught them grinning like idiots out of the corner of her eye.

 _If Muggle London was incredible, this is something else entirely,_ thought Bel. She barely restrained her impulse to race off down the crooked street and look at everything. Too fast for Bel's taste, Uncle Lucius led them quickly down the street to Florean Fortescue's _Ice Cream Parlor!_ They almost never got dessert, and Bel and her friends could hardly believe their luck as three heaping cones were handed over the counter. Even Bel's knowledge that they probably were only getting ice cream because Uncle Lucius wanted them to look as harmless as possible could not dampen her excitement. They strolled down the street, looking at the different shops as Bel devoured her ice cream. This time it was Bel who kept up a rapid fire barrage of questions between bites of her pink ice flavored cone. She lapped up the answers to her questions—finally as many answers as questions—as quickly as her ice cream. Only one question brought on a pause from Uncle Lucius. It stemmed from a dark side street that Bel wanted to explore.

"That is Knocturn Alley, and we cannot…it would be unwise for us to be seen down there. Perhaps next year we can take precautions and take a look at it but not today, Bel."

"Why can't we go look at the shops there?" queried Scorpius, "I can see shrunken heads in the window of that one!"

"Knocturn Alley sells Dark artifacts," replied Uncle Lucius resignedly. "People would talk if Malfoys were seen there, and we do not want people talking, especially now. Come along." Uncle Lucius continued walking, picking up his pace, and Aunt Narcissa hurried the children along after him.

When the children had licked the last sticky drops of melted ice cream from their fingers, the group finally turned their attention to the letters containing the Hogwarts first year supply lists. For the thousandth time Uncle Lucius inspected the list, and changed course. He led them down to the south end of Diagon Alley, to a small shop with gold lettering on the wooden sign. Ollivander's Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. Bel observed Uncle Lucius had a sour look on his face for an instant before he pushed his way into the shop. Scorpius followed right behind him, and Cat and Bel were pushed in by Aunt Narcissa, who also seemed strangely unhappy. The shopkeeper looked to be in her early thirties, with brown hair pulled back from her face, dark blue robes, and small silver glasses. She spared only a single hate-filled look at the older Malfoys before turning to the children.

"I am Madam Ollivander, and I assume you are here for your first wands." This was spat so brusquely at the trio that Cat took a half-step back. Bel reflexively took a step forward in front of her friend as Ollivander slammed long boxes on the counter. A magic measuring tape swirled around Scorpius, being none too gentle in taking hundreds of tiny measurements that seemed totally useless to Bel. Ollivander stalked out from behind the counter, snatched the tape away from Scorpius and threw it at Cat, who squeaked. The wand maker snatched a box off the counter and thrust a wand at Scorpius. "Blackthorn. Twelve and three quarters inches. Dragon Heartstring." Scorpius took the wand but immediately dropped it with a yelp, as it stung his palm. Bel watched as Scorpius went through dozens of wands while the aggressive tape measure continued to assault Cat.

After nearly ten minutes and well over fifty wands Madam Ollivander, who had finally grown more bored than rude, said "Aspen, Thirteen inches, Dragon Heartstring."

When Scorpius took this wand from Ollivander's hand the shop grew quiet for the first time, as the wand gave no protest over its new situation. Ollivander sat up in her chair and motioned Scorpius to wave the wand. Wary of more destruction, Scorpius moved the tip of the wand a few inches, but the only reaction was a small light glowing from its tip. Ollivander gave a curt nod and turned her attention to Cat. A wave of her wand transferred the tape's ministrations to Bel, and battling the tape took up all of her attention so that she missed most of her friend's choosing. The tape finally finished with her just in time for Cat's final wand. "Dogwood, Twelve and one quarter inches, Dragon heartstring." Cat's wand created a breeze that softly rustled her hair as it played around the shop.

Madam Ollivander motioned Bel toward the counter, and looking slightly confused, asked, "Who exactly are you?" Her eyes scanned Bel from her bright green eyes and wild black hair to her five foot frame.

This was the first question Bel had gotten all afternoon and her heart started to beat quickly in her chest. "My name is Bel Black, and my guardian is Uncle Yaxley, but I study at the Manor."

Ollivander gave a satisfied grunt and turned back to the dusty shelves filled with wand boxes. The first wand Ollivander chose for Bel was on the top shelf in the back of the store, and more wands from various places in the store quickly joined it in the shopkeep's arms. The long boxes thumped down on the counter in front of Bel, and Ollivander opened the box on the apex of the rickety pile. "Yew, Thirteen and a half inches, Dragon heartstring."

Bel took the offered wand and the plate glass window imploded. She quickly handed the wand back to Ollivander and glanced guiltily at the shards of the window. Ollivander however, had no reaction to the destruction, and reacted as if this sort of occurrence happened on a daily basis. She calmly handed Bel another wand. This time it was the lights that exploded. The cycle of destruction slowly consumed the shop as one after another wand refused to be wielded by Bel. Finally they reached the last box on the counter. "Elder, Twelve and one quarter inches, Phoenix tail feather."

This time when Bel's fingers curled around the shaft of the wand a warm wind carried the notes of a haunting tune. The wand was pleasant and warm to hold, and Bel did not want to ever put it down. Ollivander seemed satisfied, and started to put the leftover wands back in their boxes. The boxes flew back onto the dusty shelves with a twitch of her wand. Another few flourishes and the shop was back to its natural, if somewhat disheveled state. She tied the three boxes that contained the selected wands with twine, and gave them to Aunt Narcissa. She turned to the register and declared, "That will be forty-two Galleons."

Uncle Lucius glowered at her, "That's twice the price that you would charge anyone else, but I'm not in the mood to argue with you. Have your petty revenge." He slammed a pile of gold on the counter, grabbed Bel's arm and hustled them out of the shop. Bel opened her mouth to ask what that had been about, but the look on Uncle Lucius' face changed her mind.

They crossed the street and bought several sets of robes each at Twilfitt and Tattings. Uncle Lucius snorted when the old witch offered to sew in color-changing panels into the insides of their robes. He started to insist that she just put in emerald ones already but Aunt Narcissa put a hand on his arm, and said quietly "Just let her do it Lucius. It would be frowned on if they arrived on the platform already in green. I didn't let you get Draco Slytherin robes his first year, and I won't let you do it now."

 _It was always surprising to see Aunt Narcissa insist on anything_ , reflected Bel. _Both because it happened so rarely, and because Uncle Lucius always backed down so quickly. He would not even listen to Uncle Draco, his own son, not like that._ They left the shop with normal first year's robes, although she did see Uncle Lucius buy several Slytherin patches for their robes. Bel was fairly sure Aunt Narcissa had not caught that one.

Books, quills, and parchment from Flourish and Blotts came next. The cauldron, phials, and scales came from Slug & Jiggers Apothecary. Bel was delighted when their last stop was at the Magical Menagerie. Scorpius was not so happy, as he had not read in the second page of his letter that first years weren't allowed to have brooms. Uncle Lucius had to promise that if he managed to make the house team, an exception would be made about brooms. _Better say goodbye to that Lightening Eight. It's more likely to be me on the team this year than you, and even I will only make the team when cauldrons fly,_ thought Bel. She contented herself in choosing a giant black and gold owl. The harried clerk whose name tag read 'Barb' took one look at the Owl and grinned with relief, "Ohh…finally someone chose Lucifer! He's a real handful, always trying to eat the rats." Cat had given in to the temptation to get a kitten, and ran from the back of the store carrying an enormous fluffy white Persian. Scorpius finally picked an eagle owl that dwarfed even Bel's. As they left the store Cat declared, "Her name is Snowball, and she will sleep on my bed with me every night at Hogwarts."

Cat skipped ahead with her cage held tightly, and Scorpius whispered in Bel's ear, "More like Hairball, and the rug is going to escape the first chance it gets. Cat couldn't even keep that Silver Racer alive last year. Five galleons says it's gone one way or another by Christmas."

Bel thought momentarily about showing faith in her other friend, but remembered the poor little fish and decided against it. "Forget Christmas, it won't last the first term!"

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**

 _ **The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes!**_

 _The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes! Every Christmas you will be able nominate and vote on a chapter-length short story in the Belladonna Black Universe to be released on Christmas Eve._

 ** _Rules:_**

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 _Nomination will be open for two weeks from Wednesday November 16th to Wednesday_

 _November 30th._

 _Nominations will be posted in the comments section here at **www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress** **jingle-bels-christmas-sweepstakes/** , and three popular Nominations will be chosen._

 _Voting on the three Nominations will last for two weeks from Wednesday November 30th_

 _to Wednesday December 14th._

 _Any scene in the Belladonna Black Universe can be nominated with these exceptions:_

 _Ships that include characters or situations that are completely implausible such as: inscest, ridiculous age gaps, or violates sexual orientations._

 _Time Travel beyond that of standard Time Turners, but reasonable What Ifs are fine._


	3. The Heir

The Heir

The boy had been waiting for this day to come all his life. From the day he had first wobbled onto a toy broomstick, a gift from his Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron on his first birthday, his whole family had been ecstatically awaiting his debut at Hogwarts. James knew in his gut that today was the day as he saw Eleusis, the family owl, flying a few meters from the window sill, letter clutched in her strong beak. Eleusis landed clumsily on the window, sending her snowy feathers into a flurry all over the kitchen. James chuckled to himself, taking the letter from her beak, giving her a loving pat of thanks, and brushing a few of the feathers off his toast. In that moment, James's mother made her way down the stairs, eyes widening upon seeing the letter. "By god, James, it seems your letter is finally here." Ginny ruffled her son's sloppy black hair, squeezing his shoulder gently.

"HARRY, DEAR, WHERE ARE YOU? DID YOU HEAR!" Ginny proceeded to pull her husband down the stairs after her, catching her foot slightly and causing her husband to smile gently.

"After all these years, still clumsy around me," Harry whispered to his wife, causing her to blush and slap his arm playfully. Harry looked to his son, seeing the letter in his hands, "Is that your Hogwarts letter? Well, it's about time. Congratulations, son." James nodded to his father, smiling with a gleam of mischief in his eyes.

His parents gathered around the table and watched as he broke the purple seal. He felt his heart pound as he took the parchment out of the envelope. He was about to start reading when suddenly, Teddy and Victoire burst into the kitchen. Teddy, being a playful metamorphmagus, had turned his usual reddish-brown hair and light brown eyes to a silvery blonde with blue eyes to mock Victoire who was giggling from her perch on his back. She always pretended to hate it when he did that, and insisted on calling him Victor until he allowed it to return to normal. Victoire was a light hearted witch, always grinning which made her beautiful features from her Veela heritage even more striking. Upon seeing her cousin, she ran and threw her arms around him in a rather stiff hug. She waved to her aunt and uncle, still oblivious to the activities going on across the table.

Teddy, however, caught on rather quickly, "Ah, seems that someone's finally gotten his letter."

"Well, it had to happen eventually," James smirked. Teddy raised an eyebrow, glad that James—who was practically his brother—shared his mischievous attitude.

Victoire practically bounced, "Oh! I can't wait for you to be at Hogwarts with us, James! At first, it will be a little odd for you, I mean, being a Potter and all-"

" No, it won't, Torie. It is going to be bloody hilarious! I mean, can you imagine his face?" Teddy laughed, morphing into his version of a startled James. However, his laughing ceased abruptly when he saw the daggers Harry and Ginny were glaring at him, and he quickly returned his features to normal. James laughed at Teddy but furrowed his brow in confusion. "Victoire, Teddy, what do you mean, because I'm a Potter?"

Harry winced, "Oh, I'll tell you later James, don't worry about it." For James, this was not the first time he had found some things about his parents slightly odd. His mother had been a professional Quidditch player for the Holyhead Harpies, and was now a Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet. His father was the Head of the Auror Office. He had always thought that these were the reasons for people's stares and whispers. However, at the age of eleven, James was beginning to realize there had to be something more behind it. He was sure that he would be able to get it out of Teddy or Victoire though, who seemed to know much more than he did. Growing up, Teddy, Victoire, and James had been very close. The adults often called them numbers one, two, and three, after the successive years in which they had been born. Teddy had been raised by his grandmother, Andromeda, but more often than not, he was at the Potters' with his godfather Harry. From the time he was about eight, he had his own room and all his favorite belongings were at the Potters' home in Godric's Hollow. Victoire was also constantly around. Her parents Bill and Fleur had moved to Godric's Hollow, shortly after her birth, and she had quickly gotten in the habit of toddling over to her cousin's house, just across the street.

Growing up, James had loved the busy feeling of their house. Despite having two of his own siblings, Albus and Lily, the house always felt empty when it wasn't filled with extraneous family members. Of course, his younger cousins Rose and Hugo - son and daughter of his Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione - were always around. Victoire's younger siblings, Dominique and Louis came over as well but they were quite young.

James had become much closer to his siblings in the last two years since the majority of the time, the two other members of his trio had been away at Hogwarts. James could still remember the day that Teddy had gone off to Hogwarts. The whole clan of Weasleys and Potters had come to the send off. Victoire had even cried. From that day on, and even more so the next year when Victoire left, James had been consumed with the need to be at Hogwarts.

Now, it was finally his turn to cause trouble at school, just like Teddy had been doing for two years. James followed in the footsteps of his Uncle George and late grandfather. He was always neck-deep in trouble but he always had a plan. His parents were not completely pleased with this, but everyone knew that he couldn't be stopped. Of course, James made sure no one ever got hurt but he sometimes forgot to properly cover his tracks, leading to disastrous consequences.

As more of his cousins, aunts and uncles shuffled into the kitchen he escaped upstairs, followed by Teddy and Victoire. In his room, he found his siblings, minus their heads, due to the Headless Hats their Uncle George had brought over earlier that week. Upon seeing him, they promptly showed their smiling faces. James proudly displayed the letter to his younger siblings who ran up to him, seemingly quite impressed.

"JAMES! YOU GOT YOUR LETTER, ALREADY! It's going to be forever until I get mine," Lily whined.

"It is very fair, Lil. We all have to wait our turn," James leaned over to tickle his sister gently. Lily giggled in response, the realization that her brother was leaving had not fully sunk into her young mind. Teddy scooped Lily up into his lap and proceeded to change his hair into all the colors in the rainbow, something he did quite often, especially when he was bored.

Lily laughed and Victoire grimaced at Teddy.

"So," James murmured, "what did you guys mean about being a Potter again?" Teddy and Victoire exercised their exceptional silent communication skills, Teddy raising his eyebrow and Victoire sending him a scolding look to which he obligingly looked chastened. James was half-convinced it was a form of telepathy, even though his mother insisted that some things even magic couldn't do. They eventually reached a tacit understanding.

"You see, James, we know that Uncle Harry wishes to wait until you reach Hogwarts to find these things out for yourself." Victoire said nervously.

Teddy then shifted Lily to his shoulder, "Yeah, but don't worry, you've got some wicked cool advantages coming your way," he added.

Just then, James got an idea. "Well, my friends, I already have some advantages right at my fingertips." He extended his hand to his younger siblings. "Teddy, please remove the young ones, I'd rather not have them grassing on me." Teddy grinned anxiously, convinced the two Potter children of some excitement in the kitchen and then proceeded to lock the door behind them.

Victoire furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean?" She looked to Teddy who shrugged his shoulders.

James was grinning madly, the grin that meant that he had a plan prepared. "You both well know that my father spends a vast amount of time in his study. He keeps a lot of rubbish in there, you know. At least, all of it is that isn't locked up, it's all Auror business and old articles about who knows what. Most of it isn't even as good as the confiscated muggle stuff Grandpa keeps in the garage at the burrow."

Teddy fidgeted impatiently, "James, what's your point?" "The point is that not everything in that office is in fact rubbish. You see, let's say that I know the password to the study and I've spent some time in there with my father, well, not with him exactly, but while he was also in there and I found out that he keeps two things in there that are of interest to me. And which I also know how to access. I'd like to think of them as _family heirlooms,_ and family heirlooms are meant to be inherited, are they not?"

Victoire looked at James with a nervous smile, "Is this really a good idea James? Stealing from the study?"

Teddy stood looming over her and gave her shoulders a squeeze. "C'mon Torie, live a little, whatever he's going on about is his _right of passage_ , his last chance of rebellion, he's thought this through and we're going to be fine."

At his touch, Victoire visibly relaxed, "Alright James, get on with it."

James over-poured with excitement, "With your help, I am going to take the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak with me to Hogwarts."

Teddy squeezed Victoire's hand, and she squeezed back, pondering the offer. James could tell how nervous this made his cousin, and even his godbrother. He sat waiting for an answer, knowing it would be best for them to decide on their own if he wanted the right result. They whispered back and forth, and James could tell that Teddy was starting to feel more confident about the idea, but Victoire still needed a little convincing. Teddy had a significant influence on her, and James knew she would most likely swing his way in the end. Victoire let out a sigh, "Okay James, we're in, but you better have one hell of a plan."

James clasped his hands together, leaning in to whisper, "Excellent!"

James, Victoire, and Teddy had huddled in the room for about half an hour, working out the details of their plan. They decided that their best chance would be to wait until the day of departure to Hogwarts. Luckily for them, the materials they needed could all be purchased next week at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley, while getting their supplies for that school year. Unluckily for them, it was run by James's uncles, Ron and George, so they would have to make sure the uncles would not tell James's parents of their elicit purchases. Luckily, Uncle George was at the counter and promised to keep it a secret, the art of mischief having always run through his veins.

The trio was able to sneak out of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with a bag full of Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-bangs, Exploding Whizz Poppers, and Miraculous Mystic Mayhem Makers. George had even given it to them for free. After this quick stop, the trio found their parents and siblings. James drank in the atmosphere of the alley, he'd been there a few times before, but today it was quite different. It had a new sense of purpose and excitement, with all the dark robed students bustling in and out of the shops.

It was going to be James's first time inside many of the specialized shops. These shops had been unnecessary just a few weeks before. They stopped at Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions, where he was fitted by a hovering tape measure and pins that didn't seem to take an liking to him. They made sure to poke him extra hard every time he dared move. He had to bite his cheeks in order not to wince. Finally, several painful minutes later, James left the shop with three plain robes, one winter cloak, a hat, and protective gloves.

Their next stop was Flourish and Blotts', where James hastily collected all the books he was required to purchase for that year and dumped them into his cauldron unceremoniously. James was not an avid reader, and the bookcases spiraling up the walls failed to excite him. James looked to Teddy and rolled his eyes as they watched Victoire become mesmerized by the books whizzing across the shop. He figured that he, too, would be fascinated, if only he were a muggle and flying books were a novelty. Victoire tore her eyes away from the display as she and Teddy looked for their own required volumes. Once they were done, they reached the counter and paid for their books.

As they were turning to leave, James saw a rather peculiar woman adorned completely in alligator green, from her bejeweled spectacles to her freshly-manicured alligator green nails. James swore they were as sharp as teeth. From her handbag, an acid green Quick-Quotes Quill appeared and she began to screech loudly for everyone to hear, "DID I HEAR CORRECTLY? ARE THERE POTTERS HERE? HARRY POTTER, YOU CAN STOP HIDING FROM LITTLE RITA NOW, DEAR. WHERE ARE YOU?"

James looked to his father and watched him turn pale, quickly grabbing his mother's hand. James then realized how many eyes were on him and his family, making him extremely uncomfortable. Harry motioned to the children, mouthing 'run!' before rushing out the door. The children followed suit, as the blonde woman continued her ranting. "MY DEAREST HARRY, GINNY TOO, WHERE ARE YOU? I KNOW YOU CAN'T WAIT TO BE INTERVIEWED! BRING THE CHILDREN, THEY'LL BE POSITIVELY SCRUMPTIOUS IN THE TABLOIDS!"

James could swear the woman's high-pitched shrill was shattering his eardrums as they shuffled out of the store.

When they were finally out of earshot, James whispered to his father, "Who was that woman?"

His parents eyes' met in horror, "Rita Skeeter," they responded.

"She's a nasty reporter, that woman. Wrote dozens of false articles in her day, especially about Quidditch," Ginny murmured, looking rather annoyed. "Stay away from that witch. In fact, staying away from all beetles might do you good."

James didn't fully understand what his mother meant but his encounter with the woman was disheartening enough.

As they walked the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley, Teddy decided to turn himself into each passing stranger, which caused eruptions of laughter from Albus and Lily. Their mother wasn't amused, and proceeded to scold her godson. "We can't take you anywhere, can we?"

Teddy just smiled and shook his head. "You really can't but I guess I'm just so charming that you can't stand to be without me." Teddy continued to joke about his impressiveness all the way to Ollivander's. James was incredibly excited about this stop, where he would acquire his first wand. Once he reached the door, he looked back to his parents who seemed nearly as excited as he was. His mother nudged him through the doors.

Once inside, they were greeted by a witch with short brown hair, blue robes, and silver-rimmed spectacles. She gave them a wide smile, "Welcome to Ollivander's, Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C. You need a wand… James is it?"

James nodded and Ollivander got out a measuring tape. It smacked his wrist as it aligned itself, dangerously close to one of the places he had been stabbed earlier by the pins. "Oh, stop it," Ollivander barked at the tape. It shriveled back in protest as Ollivander bustled to the back of the shop.

James finally allowed himself to look around and he noticed the walls were covered from ceiling to floor with wands. They seemed to be jammed into the shelf haphazardly, with no sense of order or organization. She came back, and placed five different wands down on the counter. She pulled out the first and James grew eager as he saw the gleaming dark wood. "Ebony, Twelve and one quarter inches, Dragon heartstring."

Teddy examined it, "Mine's an ebony wand. It's a good one." James proceeded to wield the wand, sending a stream of water directly into Teddy's face. James handed the wand back hastily, and Ollivander put it back and pulled out the next wand. "Aspen, Eleven and a half inches, Unicorn."

James tried to grasp it, but as soon as he did, it flew from his hand into the air and refused to come down until Victoire snatched it. James stood astounded and Victoire shrugged, "Aspen wands have always liked me," she informed as she motioned to her own, petite Aspen wand.

James tried about fifteen more wands and was starting to get used to the results. Sometimes fires would start, other wands caused him to be knocked to the ground, one even thumped him on the head vigorously.

The next wand Ollivander put out was one that had been previously knocked from the shelf. As she placed it onto the counter, she blew off a thick layer of dust, causing Lily and Ginny to have small sneezing fits. "Rowan, Twelve and three quarter inches, Phoenix tail feather."

Once in his hand, James examined it carefully. The wand was light and had an intricate handle, the wood swirled golden and dark brown, resembling a marble cake. He gripped it and shut his eyes, expecting the whole room to fall into discord. When he opened his eyes, a bright glow was being cast from the wand, sending out a blazing heat that illuminated the room.

Once the light dimmed, Ollivander sent him a satisfied look. "Rowan's a nice, protective wand. Good for a wizard's protection, great in duels. That'll be seven Galleons." James placed the money on the counter and Ollivander chirped to herself, "Hmm, how peculiar. I just sold a wand with a twin core to some girl earlier today, rarely ever happens."

The group exited the shop, led by James who was admiring his new wand. A quarter down the block, he felt his wand tug. _Probably my imagination,_ he mused, but he stopped and looked up. In turn, this caused a chain reaction as his family proceeded to bump into each other and look, following his gaze. James saw a familiar looking boy, about his age, with white-blonde hair slicked back. He was with an older couple. The man looked much like the boy except that his hair was starting to silver and it fell below his shoulders. James saw two younger girls with them, one slightly familiar as well—a plain girl with brown eyes and hair. The third, however, was someone he'd never seen before. Her hair was a massive accumulation of black, curling tendrils and her eyes were a surprising green. James looked to his father, who seemed suddenly aware of them, "Have I seen them before?"

Harry nodded to his son, "Probably. That man is Lucius Malfoy and his wife is Narcissa." James nodded, remembering hearing much about them. Harry continued, " I've talked about them before, I'm sure. I believe that's their grandson, Scorpius, son of Draco Malfoy. The brown haired girl is, um…"

Ginny piped in, "That's Catherine Goyle, daughter of Gregory. The other girl with them, I've never seen. What about you, Harry?"

Harry shook his head, "I've never seen her before either."

With that, they dropped the subject and headed towards their final stop, the Magical Menagerie, where James was allowed to pick out a pet. James thought that he wanted an owl but he wasn't sure—a toad might also be amusing. As he entered the shop, at least half a dozen cats hissed at him. He made a mental note to stay away from most cats, except for Althea, Aunt Fleur's cat who seemed to tolerate him more than most.

James passed a wall of pygmy puffs before crossing over to the toads. He tried to pick one out, but failed miserably—none of them seemed to acknowledge his presence. James next tried the owl cages, where he really hoped to find something that actually liked him. He went over to a beautiful snowy owl when the shopkeeper noticed him. "That's Heather, she's quite friendly."

James stuck out his hand and Heather sized him up, stared right into his eyes and bit him. James stumbled back, cursing, and the shopkeeper, a small balding man, sighed. "Well, I guess not anymore." As James examined his small wound, he heard another owl let out a soft hoot. He looked up and was caught in the gaze of a tawny owl, very small with bright yellow eyes. He went to the owl, cautious because of his previous encounter. The tawny owl warmed up to him immediately, nuzzling its head against the cage.

The shopkeeper came back, "Ah, Millicent. She's usually quite the grumpy broad, but she seems to fancy you." Harry went over to the man and paid for the owl while James continued to pet the bird.

"Hello, Millie," he whispered.

It was the last day of summer when James, Victoire, and Teddy finally executed their plan. They now had all the supplies, had surveyed the entryways, concocted the distraction, and scheduled the perfect timing. The children were counting on being behind schedule to leave for King's Cross, due to their ever-growing family, which always made their departure frantic and hurried. This would be the foolproof way to avoid suspicion, or at least make their parents forget about watching them.

As trunks were packed into the back of a giant Volkswagen, jostling about and making a ruckus, another ruckus was being made inside the house. Poor Albus had been bribed by Teddy into their little plan, a heap of sweets from Diagon Alley had been promised. So the innocent child had been sworn to secrecy, and was now going to unleash an exorbitant amount of magical fireworks into the house. From upstairs, James sent his little brother the sign, and then made his way up to his father's office.

Teddy and Victory guarded the hall as he faced entrance to the office. It was a grand arch-shaped door but had no handle. His veins pumped with adrenaline as he whispered to the charmed entryway. He raked his brain for the right phrase —the password was changed every few months—until he remembered the most current one.

"Wighed Twenty-Seven," James murmured. To his relief, the doorway seemed to shimmer, becoming slightly translucent, and he knew that was his cue to enter. Once through, the doorway solidified behind him. His eyes roamed the study—a dimly lit room littered with papers strewn across the desk, locked trunks whose innards were a conundrum, and the golden cabinetry filled with his father's prized possessions. The study had been a wonderland to a younger James, who had often snuck in after his father. On occasion, he still did—toying with the knickknacks on the desk and staring at his father's mysterious trinkets. The study was his very own paternal puzzle. Some things made perfect sense but others were a complete mystery to him. For example, he saw old broomsticks here and there but there were other things he didn't recognize, and things James didn't understand the importance of.

There was a bowl of swirling silver liquid, a handle of what seemed to have been a knife, and a shard of glass. He could ponder the objects forever, but he knew that this was not the time. James scurried behind the stained mahogany desk and moved the matching chair aside. He rolled under the desk and looked up at his dad's charmed muggle keypad. He knew that the cloak and map were hidden here, a compartment James had found while in need of a hiding space from approaching adults. James had once snuck into the office after his father had left but Harry had reentered shortly thereafter, searching for something he had forgotten. James had hidden inside a partially empty trunk behind the desk, praying he wouldn't be found. He had watched Harry look around the room cautiously, seeming to sense that someone was there. When Harry had decided that he was, in fact, alone, he almost disappeared from James' view, rolling under the desk and onto his back. He had seen his father punch numbers into the muggle keypad, which glowed upon his touch.

His father came out holding a shimmering cloak and a seemingly blank piece of parchment. However, when his father had whispered an incoherent phrase the parchment began to fill with ink, The Maurauder's Map forming on the front. He had then slipped the cloak over his head and simply vanished. James had heard of this very map and cloak in his father's stories, but he had never seen either before. Then James had panicked, not knowing if it was safe to leave or not. Eventually, after a few minutes of not hearing any movement, he decided it was safe to depart.

Unfortunately for James, his father changed the password so frequently that for the past two weeks, he had to relive the trunk experience for hours at a time until he finally caught his father and the new password. James' fingers shook as he typed the new password into the keypad. _0-7-9-7._ When he finished typing, the pad swung outward, revealing a small hidden section of the desk. James reached in and felt around the covert chamber. After vigorous seconds of search, James reached the conclusion that the drawer was empty. _Where are they?_ James wondered to himself. _The cloak, the map, they must be here! Cloak, CLOAK!_ When James thought this, he felt the soft, silky material appear in his hands. He pulled it out and admired it for a minute before quickly tucking it into his jacket. He reached his hand back in, _Is the map here?_ He waited, asking again, but nothing appeared. He became quite frustrated, and after what seemed like an eternity, he came to the conclusion that the map must have been moved. So, he quietly closed the compartment, got up quickly, and exited the study.

Once outside, Teddy and Victoire looked to him expectantly. James grinned to celebrate his small feat. "The map must have been moved—it wasn't in the compartment. However, I did manage to snag the cloak," James smug grin grew even wider. He pulled a corner of the cloak out of his pocket and watched as Victoire and Teddy's eyes widened. The three bounced downstairs in excitement.

As the trio made their way downstairs, they saw the mess their plan had left in its wake. Two dragons made of fire were currently demolishing the living room, and firecrackers exploded repeatedly in the kitchen. James saw a cat made of fire chasing a screaming Lily in circles around Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill. Fleur, Bill, Harry, Ginny and Andromeda ran—or hobbled in Andromeda's case—around feverishly attempting to charm the incendiary tricks into submission. After about ten minutes, the last Exploding Whizz Popper had been diminished. Everything was fairly intact, other than some slightly scorched clothing and a small flame coming from Andromeda's hat." _Aguamenti!"_ she hissed, scowling as a stream of water put out the smoking hat.

While the Potter children laughed, their mother did not think this was funny at all. Ginny's face turned as red as her hair. She sent out a look that translated roughly into " _All of you tell me who's responsible this instant!"_ Begrudgingly, Albus stepped forward, looking quite dejected as the older children pointed him out as well. Before he could receive a punishment, Teddy whispered in his ear, making him nod and smile briefly before being shoved into the unforgiving custody of his angry mother.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**

 _ **The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes!**_

 _The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes! Every Christmas you will be able nominate and vote on a chapter-length short story in the Belladonna Black Universe to be released on Christmas Eve._

 ** _Rules:_**

 _Anyone can nominate and vote, you don't need to subscribe or leave your name._

 _Nomination will be open for two weeks from Wednesday November 16th to Wednesday_

 _November 30th._

 _Nominations will be posted in the comments section here at **www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress** **jingle-bels-christmas-sweepstakes/** , and three popular Nominations will be chosen._

 _Voting on the three Nominations will last for two weeks from Wednesday November 30th_

 _to Wednesday December 14th._

 _Any scene in the Belladonna Black Universe can be nominated with these exceptions:_

 _Ships that include characters or situations that are completely implausible such as: inscest, ridiculous age gaps, or violates sexual orientations._

 _Time Travel beyond that of standard Time Turners, but reasonable What Ifs are fine._


	4. The Two Trios

The Two Trios

Bel glanced around her room in the Manor one last time. Her trunk was packed and on her bed, and the newly rechristened Nightlock was safely in his new cage on her dresser. Without her things strewn everywhere, the room looked a little sad and extremely empty. The clock read only seven thirty, but Bel had already eaten breakfast. _I have never been up this early in my entire life,_ Bel thought distantly. She dragged her trunk out through the door, snagging the dark owl's cage with her other hand as she passed him. The trunk made a third set of tracks in the carpet in the hall and on the stairs down to the foyer. The two other sets of trunks and cages were against the wall next to the great oak door, and Bel's belongings soon joined them.

As Bel crept through the sleepy house, she saw all the dozing portraits and exotic knicknacks that had defined her life. So far. She found Scorpius and Cat sitting in the roots of their ash tree, and Bel hopped up onto the low fork that was her accustomed perch. Cat was tossing dried corn to one of the peacocks, and Scorpius was staring at the low grey clouds, twirling his new wand absently. "When are we leaving?" asked Bel, suddenly feeling excitement crash over her.

"Any minute now," Cat replied, not nearly as excitedly as Bel. She threw the last of the corn at the iridescent bird and stood up. Uncle Draco and Aunt Astoria appeared at the door by the veranda. She motioned to the children and Scorpius jumped up and ran towards his mother, followed closely by Bel and then Cat. Aunt Astroia smiled at Scorpius and said, "Your Grandma Greengrass wishes you luck, Scorpius." Turning to Cat, Aunt Astoria continued, "She also said to tell Catherine to stop worrying. So stop worrying."

Aunt Astoria was extremely nice, but sometimes seemed to set Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa a bit on edge. She knew that something was a little odd about Bel, but she was certainly not privileged as to what it could be. The elder Greengrasses did not know that Bel existed at all, and Bel always had to stay upstairs on the infrequent occasions when they visited the Manor. Scorpius always got what they called "The Bel Lecture" before he went to visit his other grandparents.

Taking Scorpius' hand Aunt Astoria followed Uncle Draco back into the Manor with Cat and Bel trailing after her. "There has been a change of plans. Your parents will meet us at King's Cross," Aunt Astoria called back to Cat as she walked hurriedly along. She marched them through the hallways right to the open front door where Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa were waiting. Bel could see Snowball's cage disappearing into the magically enlarged trunk of the Mercedes. The chauffeur shut the boot and climbed into the front seat of the car. Aunt Astoria and Uncle Draco continued out to the waiting car, but Uncle Lucius opened his mouth, presumably to warn them to stick to the story one last time.

"We know. Don't draw attention to ourselves," cut in Bel before he could begin.

"We all know the story by heart. We couldn't mess it up even if we wanted to," added Scorpius.

"You made us rehearse it over a hundred times. Since yesterday!" exclaimed Cat. And with that she followed Scorpius' parents and climbed into the waiting backseat.

Scorpius and Bel waited a moment longer, and Uncle Lucius looked into Bel's eyes with concern. "I know this must all seem like an exciting game to you three, but it is not. The consequences of not following my instructions do not bear thinking of." Perhaps his words finally hit home to Bel and her friends, because the ride to King's Cross was a subdued one.

Cat's parents, Gregory and Melissa Goyle, were waiting by the entrance, and joined the party. Cat, who could barely remember living with her parents, was only distantly glad to see them. She was slightly surprised they had even bothered to come. So was everyone else, except Aunt Astoria who always had faith in everybody. None of the children had ever been to a muggle train station, or even seen a muggle up close, so the bustle of the station was bewildering to them. Seeing all of the people bustling around them—throwing only the occasional puzzled glances at Nightlock and Melik, the owls, never imagining that over a thousand witches and wizards were passing through their midst—struck Bel and her friends as amusing. They could barely control their giggles as they moved through the terminals. The adults did not find it nearly as entertaining. They all wore expressions of veiled distaste, only thinly veiled on Uncle Lucius' and Aunt Narcissa's faces. Bel and Scorpius pushed their trolleys slightly ahead of the adults—Cat was stuck talking to her parents—so they could both watch the muggles and listen surreptitiously to the adults.

"I wish the Ministry had paid more attention to our petition to build our own station. This would be a much more pleasant experience if we did not have to wade through all of these muggles to get through to the Express. Diagon Alley would be a perfectly nice location…and we wouldn't have to wear these infernal clothes!" muttered Uncle Lucius. Aunt Narcissa made a noncommittal noise, and Bel stopped short a few meters away from a brick wall. She had just seen someone about her age disappear through a solid brick wall! Scorpius was blinking very hard—he obviously had seen the phenomenon and could not quite believe it either. It was a very odd thing to see magic in the middle of a muggle train station. The adults continued to talk amongst themselves and did not notice the shock on the children's faces. They only motioned them to follow as they too disappeared through the bricks. Cat was swept through along with them, and Bel caught a glimpse of her firmly closed eyes as she stepped through the wall. Only Aunt Astoria stayed behind.

"All you have to do is walk at the center of the wall. Platform Nine and Three-Quarters is on the other side. Don't worry, it's impossible for a witch or wizard to be stopped by the bricks," said Aunt Astoria as she smiled reassuringly at her son and his friend.

Scorpius looked at Bel. A silent argument occurred between the friends through their locked eyes. Scorpius lost. "Fine, I'll go first, but if I get squashed like a pixie, I'm blaming you!" He considered the wall, and took a leaf out of Cat's book. Scorpius closed his eyes before sprinting at the wall, his trolley let out a squeak of protest at the extreme velocity. Bel was absolutely certain that he was going to be crushed, but sure enough he disappeared just like the others. Aunt Astoria was still standing beside the brick column, and Bel had no choice.

If the bricks had accepted Scorpius and Cat they would let her pass. Probably. She squeezed her eyes shut, clenched her fingers around the handle of her trolley, and tilted at the bricks. As she feared, there was an awful clang of metal and she sprawled on the ground. But when she opened her eyes, it was not bricks that she saw. Scorpius had apparently stopped just on the other side of the wall, and their trolleys had collided. Nightlock and Melik's cages had been thrown from the trolleys and they were making loud screeches of displeasure. But when Bel looked up from the trolleys, she saw a scarlet steam engine with golden lettering on the front, _Hogwarts Express,_ and white steam billowing from the engine. The ceiling of the platform was higher than in muggle King's Cross, and sunlight streamed through the glass panels. When seen as a group, the occupants of the platform could not be mistaken for ordinary by even the most closed-minded muggle. Magic seemed to be blossoming everywhere Bel looked. An enormous grin burst across Bel's face, and her fear of the wall evaporated.

It took her twice as long as it should have to restack her trunk and Nightlock back on her trolley, as there was a new distraction everywhere she looked. In a daze, she pushed her trolley to the luggage rack and a porter swung her trunk onto a vast pile of other belongings. She held on to Nightlock's cage and scanned the crowd until she found the adults at the back of the platform leaning against a wall. She pointed out their party to Cat and Scorpius, and they set off through the crowd.

When they finally reached the back wall the whistle sounded to signal five minutes before departure. As they said their hasty goodbyes, Bel noticed several hostile looks being directed their way, but the adults did not seem to notice—or perhaps they did not care. The platform was quickly emptying of students and the trio ran for the second car of the train. Only a few seconds after they scrambled aboard, a lurch ran through the train, and the scarlet train quickly picked up speed, leaving the waving adults on the platform far behind. The train seemed incredibly crowded to the first years, and as they wandered down the corridor, even a few older students could be heard complaining about the conditions. Apparently enrollment was almost back to the levels it had been before the First Wizarding War. The train had been smaller for decades, and no one had considered the overcrowding and remembered to add more cars.

The three friends walked down the length of the train, but any empty seats were quickly claimed by the older students walking with them. They reached the last car, and were beginning to lose hope, when they found one of the last compartments was only half full, and appeared to contain only younger students. Bel heaved open the sliding door, and Scorpius and Cat piled into the compartment after her. The three students already occupying the compartment made room with only token grumbling. One of the boys was obviously a first year with his all black robes, and had messy black hair and blue eyes. He smiled tentatively at Bel, but his companions were not quite as pleased to see them. The other girl and boy looked only slightly older, and were both in Gryffindor scarlet. The girl had long blonde hair, almost as light as Scorpius's, and an etherial face. The boy currently had purple hair and brown eyes, but Bel would have sworn that it had been blue before she had opened the door.

The boy with the technicolor hair was eyeing Scorpius, and he did not seem overly pleased. "My name is Teddy Lupin. Who are you?" His stare did not intimidate Scorpius in the least, and he plopped down beside Bel opposite the Gryffindors and the first-year. Cat finally sat nearest the door across from the blonde girl. "I am Scorpius Malfoy, these are my friends Bel Black and Cat Goyle. Everywhere else is full." The last was said as both a statement of fact and a justification for their presence that had so obviously offended Teddy. It was obvious to everyone in the compartment that neither trio was going anywhere.

At the mention of her name, the black-haired first year across from Bel leaned forward eagerly. "Are you related to Sirius Black? My father talks about him all the time. I'm James Potter, by the way." James had not been paying much attention to the new arrivals before he heard the smaller girl's name. He hadn't registered the appearance or name of the boy that had introduced them or his other friend.

Bel had never heard of anyone named Sirius Black, but James' last name was certainly familiar to her. Harry Potter was one of the names heard at the Manor often enough, but only from behind closed doors that she wasn't supposed to be listening at. They had never managed to find out exactly who he was, but on one of his excursions to his grandparents' house Scorpius had heard from his cousins that Harry Potter had been somehow involved in the fall of the Death Eaters. Whoever he was, Bel was fairly sure that Uncle Lucius would _not_ approve of her being anywhere near his son. It might even count as drawing attention to themselves. But all she said was, "No, I don't think so. Never heard of him."

This disappointed James. If Bel was not related to Sirius—if she had never even heard of him—then she must be one of the _other_ Blacks. His father had told him all about them, too. Turning his attention away from Bel, James finally took the time to notice her companions. When his eyes fell on the boy with the white-blond hair his eyes narrowed, "Hey—what did you say your name was again?" Now that he was looking at the boy, his appearance rang a few bells somewhere in the back of his mind. His father had always been very stingy with stories from when he was young, usually focusing on his current work as one of the Ministry's Aurors. One of the few stories he did tell centered upon a Slytherin he used to know at school. A white-blonde boy, a boy named Draco Malfoy.

Scorpius had finished taking in his fellow travelers, and had been watching the countryside roll past outside the train windows. He had not caught the black-haired boy's name, or heard his conversation with Bel. He also failed to catch Bel's wide-eyed look of warning that she was currently sending his way. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy, not that it's any business of yours. I didn't catch your name either," he shot back, annoyed by the other boy's tone.

James felt an almost instinctive dislike for Scorpius, his imperious attitude, and the way he had commandeered their compartment. "I am James Potter, and I suppose you're hoping for Slytherin," hissed James.

Scorpius recognized the name just as Bel had, but by this time he was so incensed that he did not care what his grandfather would say. "Of course I'm going into Slytherin, it's the best house. ]What are you hoping for, Hufflepuff? No, wait, don't tell me, you want to be a Gryffindor?" James's glare was all the answer he needed. The compartment descended into stony silence for the next three hours.

At last the scarlet train ground to a halt at Hogsmeade's station. The weather had turned sour as they had ridden across the countryside, and sheets of rain were pelting down on the cobbles of the station outside the window. The six unwilling traveling companions gratefully split back into two trios as they joined the swirling crowd of students making their way back to Hogwarts for the start of term. James followed closely behind Victoire and Teddy. He knew perfectly well that first years were supposed to ride in the boats, but he also knew that every year a few of them managed to get lost and followed the older students to the castle in the carriages. In this weather, James was determined to be one of them, until he heard a voice booming out over the station, "Firs' years over here, all firs' years line up here for the boats! Oy James, that means you too. Firs' years gather roun'." Hagrid had seen him attempting to ride the carriages with his best friends. After a slightly dejected goodbye, James fought through the crowd of students back to where Hagrid was standing like a mountain surrounded by a few hundred shivering students.

Bel, Scorpius, and Cat had followed a slightly less circuitous route into the mass of shivering first years. After exiting the train and hearing the enormous man's call, they had sought shelter under the overhang of the station. The giant of a man did not seem to mind the downpour, and was standing just on the other side of a curtain of rain falling from the roof. He was already soaking wet, and his bushy black beard streaked with grey appeared to have soaked up several gallons of water all on its own. It took nearly a half an hour to gather all of the confused first years, and after the final few stragglers joined the cluster the man began booming out over the crowd, "I am Hagrid, an' I teach Care o' Magical Creatures up at th' castle. All of yeh follow close in this weather, and mind none o' yeh fall out this year!"

With that, the man—Hagrid—started walking along a narrow forested path at a pace that had most of them half-running along behind him. Bel hurried along behind Hagrid, as he left a hole in the rain in his wake, and she started as she felt a hand grab onto the back of her cloak. With a start, she glanced behind her and saw Scorpius and then Cat strung out behind her, trying to keep together in the rush to get out of the rain. Turning back to face the front of the line, Bel saw to her astonishment that the professor was actually talking to a student. Upon closer inspection, she saw with a sinking sensation, the student was none other than James Potter.

James had by this time forgotten his plan to hitch a ride with his friends to school. T _here are worst places to be in the world,_ he reflected, _than with Hagrid._ His parents' friend was, as usual, keeping up a running commentary on the new mad beasts he had caught since Christmas.

"Foun' a new unicorn in the forest las' week. He was hurt, an' I brought 'im up to th' cabin. Yeh, can see 'im soon James, I 'ave 'im in a paddock." Hagrid had kept this up for almost ten minutes already, when James glanced behind him in line and saw the three from the train. Hagrid followed his eyes, and didn't look too happy to see them either.

"I 'eard tha' we were gettin a new Malfoy this year. But…" Hagrid stopped short when his eyes lit on Bel, and he looked slightly puzzled. "Do I know yeh from somewhere? Who are yeh parents?"

James saw a flicker of fear quickly replaced by defiance on her face, and realized that he would like to know the answer to that as well. She had not answered that question on the train. In fact, she had avoided telling him anything about herself.

Bel had an answer ready for this, of course, but she had not expected to be interrogated by a mountain. Perhaps all that memorization had been useful after all, "I'm Bel Black, and I don't think you know my parents. My guardian is my uncle Argyre."

Hagrid seemed to be satisfied with this response, as he turned back to the lake just becoming visible through the trees, but James certainly wasn't. First she showed up with a Malfoy, and then she dodged a simple question. Twice! "Just who are your parents then," queried James. Something was just too odd about the whole thing.

Despite James' directness, his questions did not faze Bel in the least. She might not have been prepared for living mountains, but she had certainly expected pushy students. "My parents died just after I was born, and I don't remember them. They were Abraxos and Miranda Black. They died in the war." Bel felt proud of herself. She had survived the first round of questions with a minimum amount of details.

James was not sure what war she meant, but he was going to find out. _Abraxos and Miranda Black, that was an answer, but it still seemed a little odd. And Hagrid was not the first adult he had seen look at Bel strangely._ James racked his memory for the other odd look. _Mother—that was it—she had spotted Bel and her friend's crash on the platform, and spent too long looking at her. Especially as it was obvious who Scorpius was._ His first year at Hogwarts seemed to be getting more interesting by the second.

The black lake finally broke through the edge of the forest, and they found themselves on a gravel shore, with perhaps a hundred boats tied up to pilings anchored in the ground. In the prow of each boat a lantern was hung on poles that rose a few feet above the sides of the craft. The lanterns were flickering weakly in the downpour. They did not help to illuminate much more than a few feet into the gloom. In fact the only thing truly visible was a huge castle that twinkled with lights from a thousand windows. It rose high above the lake on a cliff that jutted out over the waves crashing at its base hundreds of feet below. Hagrid busied himself preparing to launch the boats, but all of the first years were stuck dumb. Most had never seen such a sight before, and it was more than enough to take anyone's breath away if they were not used to it. Even in the rain, the sight was so compelling that Hagrid had to remind them of the feast waiting in the Great Hall. This set off a mad scramble to get into the boats. "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called over the ensuing rush.

The crowd behind him pushed James into the first boat on the shore, and to his dismay Bel, Cat and Scorpius were forced to pile in after him. The boats were not very pleasant, as they had accumulated a few inches of water in the bottoms—despite the best efforts of a water-repelling charm. It took only a minute or two for hungry students to shove their way into the line of boats, and soon the first few untied themselves and began streaming across the lake, with James' in the lead.

At this point, Bel would not have cared if she was sharing the boat with a Troll—she only had eyes for the castle. She had never quite imagined a building larger than Malfoy Manor, and the castle could have eaten her home for breakfast. In fact, it looked as if it could fit inside the room behind the great stained glass windows, probably the Great Hall the giant mentioned. Cat shared her fascination, and was attempting to count the windows, she kept getting to about one hundred before they seemed to magically shift before her eyes. Even Scorpius only spared one glare for the other boy before returning to ogling Hogwarts. James was trying to decide which of the spiraling turrets was Gryffindor tower, and was stymied by the fact that he had eight to choose from. Hogwarts was so much bigger than even his wildest daydreams.

They entered a tunnel whose entrance was disguised behind hanging tendrils of ivy. Too soon the bottom of their boat was scraping onto a pebbly beach. They piled out of the boats, more students coming behind them all the time, and climbed up a long set of stairs that eventually disgorged them on a swath of soft grass that led up to a set of enormous oak doors that led into the castle. Hagrid appeared from the back of the crowd of students, and made his way through to the great doors. He knocked three times and they swung open to reveal a man dwarfed by Hagrid and the doors. It was not clear until they drew closer that the silver-haired man was actually quite small, some of the first years overshadowed him. Hagrid left them outside the doors with the little man and quickly disappeared into the entrance hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Flitwick, deputy Headmaster and head of Ravenclaw House. Before the Welcome Feast, you will be sorted into one of four houses; Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. You will remain in your house all seven years, and it will be your family here at Hogwarts. You will eat with your house, sleep with your house, and compete for the Quiddich and House Cups with your house. Breaking the rules will effect not only you, but your entire house, so think carefully before you do so. Come along." With that Professor Flitwick led them through the entrance hall, which was decorated with suits of armor in hundreds of niches in the walls, and to a set of intricately carved doors. He disappeared through the door on the right, and it closed behind him before any of the students could even get a glimpse of the other side.

A murmur of conversation started up in a few seconds, but it was soon punctuated by screams echoing from the back of the hall. Everyone turned to look, and soon laughter could be heard among the screams. A troupe of ghosts had passed through a wall and were drifting along towards the students. _Someone at the back must be muggle-born,_ thought James, _they saw the ghosts and panicked. Wonder who it was._ He turned back towards the carved oak doors, and began studying a lion carved just at eye level.

The talking soon resumed, the screaming boy having been molified by a half-blood friend. Bel and her companions had migrated towards the back of the crowd in the rush from the boats to the hall, and unlike James, had a decent view of the screamer. Scorpius stood on his tiptoes attempting to see the boy more clearly. He suddenly grinned, dropped back to his feet, and turned to Cat and Bel. "The kid who screamed—the one with the messy brown hair—I think he's the one who posted the magic videos on YouTube last year," Scorpius whispered under his breath.

Cat whipped excitedly around to try to get a better glimpse of the screamer. "I think you're right," she said excitedly, not bothering to keep her voice down, "He levitated his cat, and the video got almost a million hits before the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office took it down. Even the Muggle-Worthy Excuses Committee got involved. He caused the biggest leak this decade, before he even started Hogwarts!"

Bel thought that Cat was entirely too excited about the whole thing, and her only comment was "I bet he ends up in Hufflepuff," even though five of the million views had been hers. Bel strongly suspected that the leak was not nearly as big as the Ministry thought it was, judging by the usernames attached to the comments (Gryffindor7 and Slytherin4theCup.)

The doors of the Entrance Hall burst open to reveal Professor Flitwick, narrowly missing James' nose. His only words were, "First Years follow me!" before Flitwick disappeared into the Great Hall. The Great Hall had nine tables, one for the staff at the very end, and two for each house running along its length. _The Hall must have been magically enlarged since Mum and Dad were here,_ James thought, _they only ever mentioned four tables._ The hall was filled with warmth and noise, as hundreds of older students discussed the new crop of first years. Banners emblazoned with the crests and colors of the houses fluttered from the ceiling, suspended beneath the grey storm clouds mirrored there. The first years filled the center isle between one of the Ravenclaw tables on their left, and a Hufflepuff table. One set of eyes travelled the length of the Gryffindor table against the wall, searching for two people in the mass, and three sets of eyes swept the two tables beneath the emerald banners. When James finally reached the front hall, he stopped in the front row of waiting students just before the first step. Professor Flitwick continued to climb onto the raised dais where, before the head table, two stools had been set up. Flitwick climbed onto the empty stool, but the other was already occupied. A battered brown pointed hat was perched on the lower stool. As the Great Hall fell silent, a rip opened near the brim, and it began to sing:

 _The discord amongst the houses,_

 _Has never ceased; but shifts,_

 _Ever waxes and ever wanes._

 _I thought not to see a rift,_

 _Such as the great schism when four,_

 _Was first made into three._

 _When once we had all our founders,_

 _We lived in harmony,_

 _But clever Slytherin the sly,_

 _Was driven from this school,_

 _Destroying all we'd built,_

 _Leaving only three to rule_

 _A school built for four._

 _Once the wounds they rent had mended,_

 _We looked 'cross the chasm,_

 _Houses forever divided._

 _Until once more friend turned,_

 _Again to fight and conquer friend._

 _One house at war with others,_

 _And fight to the end._

 _Still I am forced to sort,_

 _Into Gryffindor the valiant,_

 _Of honor and chivalry._

 _Ravenclaw with depth of talent,_

 _Of knowledge and of wit._

 _Slytherin the resourceful,_

 _Of cunning and resolve._

 _Into Hufflepuff the cordial,_

 _Of the loyal and staunch._

As the hat had been singing, Professor Flitwick had unrolled a long scroll that fell past his feet, onto the dais, and half way down the steps. "When I call your name, sit on the stool, and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head. ABERCROMBIE, ALUDRA!" Flitwick called.

A dark-haired girl with glasses sat on the stool and was sorted into "HUFFLEPUFF!" by the hat. The sorting moved quickly for the first dozen or so names, with the longest taking perhaps twenty-seconds.

Then Professor Flitwick called "BLACK, BELLADONNA!" Bel gulped and skipped up the steps to the little three-legged stool. _I just hope it's over quickly,_ was Bel's last thought before the hat covered her eyes and muffled her ears. _Hmmm, an interesting one,_ said a voice that suddenly invaded her head. The voice went on, _Intelligent, but with a streak of defiance a mile wide._ Bel realized that the voice was coming from the hat, and thought back, _Slytherin, just put me in Slytherin._ The feeling from that hat was slightly startled, _Well, well, well another mark in the bravery column. Slytherin…cunning and ambition…they are here, but you would like Gryffindor, such a strong urge to protect your friends…_ Bel did not like where this was going, _Please not Gryffindor, my Aunt and Uncle would kill me!_ The hat was silent for a few moments before replying, _Are you sure? You strive to please your guardians true, but you also aspire to set yourself apart —it's all here in your head…hmm, ambition, perhaps you're right. If you're sure…_ "SLYTHERIN!"

Bel finally relaxed, and as the hat was lifted from her head she ran to her house tables on the far wall. As the cheering crowd enveloped her, she relaxed for the first time that day. This was home.

The sorting continued briskly, first Cat and then Scorpius joining Bel at the far table, and as the sorting continued, conversation began to fill the silence between the periodic cheers from one house or another. It grew louder and louder until it suddenly stopped. Bel had not been paying attention to the names being called, but she turned to see the boy from the train mounting the steps.

James had stood at the front of the hall for ages as conversation and cheers swelled around him. It had slowly been getting louder as the sorting had dragged on past the half hour mark, and then "POTTER, JAMES!" echoed from the front of the hall. As he climbed the steps it slowly dawned on him that the entire hall had fallen silent, and every pair of eyes were fixed firmly on him. He did not have time to think this through before the sorting hat came down over his head. _Half-Potter and Half-Weasley,_ said a voice in his head. _Nothing unexpected here, unless you have a special request?_ The hat said slightly mockingly. James remained silent, not sure what the hat wanted from him. _All right then, if you have nothing to add…_ "GRYFFINDOR!" James was not nearly as excited as he would have imagined earlier. Now that he was sorted, all he wanted to do was get to Victorie and Teddy, away from the crowd that had shifted from silence to whispers. His walk to the Gryffindor tables passed in a blur, and to his surprise, when he found his friends, they could barely contain their laughter.

"Did you see his face?" wheezed Teddy, pounding on the oak table. Victoire could not have heard him as her face was buried in her arms on the table. Her gales of laughter were shaking her entire body. James plunked down next to them and gave them a scowl.

"Would either of you like to tell me what this is all about? You've been hinting at something for weeks now and it's not funny anymore! And now this," snapped James. He kept attracting odd looks all the way through the sorting and into the feast. Victoire and Teddy weren't helping matters, as the entire night they told anyone that tried to talk to him, "Yes, he's James Potter. Yes, that Potter. Autographs are one sickle apiece." When one girl actually tried to take them up on it in the common room, James gave up and went to bed. He climbed the spiraling stone staircase up to a series of circular rooms, and in the third first year dorm he came to, found his trunk at the foot of a rich four power bed. James fell onto the soft sheets, and gratefully fell asleep.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**

 _ **The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes!**_

 _The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes! Every Christmas you will be able nominate and vote on a chapter-length short story in the Belladonna Black Universe to be released on Christmas Eve._

 ** _Rules:_**

 _Anyone can nominate and vote, you don't need to subscribe or leave your name._

 _Nomination will be open for two weeks from Wednesday November 16th to Wednesday_

 _November 30th._

 _Nominations will be posted in the comments section here at **www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress** **jingle-bels-christmas-sweepstakes/** , and three popular Nominations will be chosen._

 _Voting on the three Nominations will last for two weeks from Wednesday November 30th_

 _to Wednesday December 14th._

 _Any scene in the Belladonna Black Universe can be nominated with these exceptions:_

 _Ships that include characters or situations that are completely implausible such as: inscest, ridiculous age gaps, or violates sexual orientations._

 _Time Travel beyond that of standard Time Turners, but reasonable What Ifs are fine._


	5. Classes

Classes

Bel was unpleasantly roused from her four poster bed by an alarm clock that screeched, "IT'S YOUR FIRST DAY AT HOGWARTS! WOULDN'T WANT TO BE LATE," incessantly until everyone was out of their beds. Although it had taken a bit to haul herself out of bed, Bel was thankful that she wasn't the only one who found it difficult to get up at six o'clock in the morning. One girl with long chestnut hair actually managed to ignore the cruel alarm for almost ten minutes.

She hadn't paid much attention to it the previous night, being completely exhausted, but now she was able to take good look at her new dormitory. The room was spacious, even with ten large green-draped four poster beds spaced along the walls. This was partially because the beds and accompanying wardrobes were tucked into little indentations in the wall, giving each girl at least some privacy, and leaving the center of the room clear. Other than the space, the second thing that Bel noticed about the room was how _green_ it was. The carpet running along the length of the room was green and black, and it looked luxuriously thick and soft. The tapestries on the wall and beds were in emerald hues, and softened the harshness of the stone walls, floor, and ceiling. But most astonishingly, even the light was green. The flames in the fireplace burned emerald, and from outside the slitted windows high on the walls, the filtered light from the outside world was also green. _Almost as if filtered through water…are we under the lake? No that's not possible…_

Bel put on her uniform, still gazing in wonder at the room, and turned to see Cat still in her pajamas. "What are you doing, Cat? You should be getting dressed," Bel said, her heart sinking.

Cat crossed her arms defiantly and sat down on her unmade bed with an exasperated huff. "No way am I wearing _that_ dingy old uniform. It's ridiculous. You can't look me in the eye and tell me you like it. Besides, do they actually expect us to wear _skirts_? Every single day?"

Bel rolled her eyes and reached into her trunk to grab her brush. It's not that they were that ugly—no, they weren't ugly— Cat just detested skirts, not that Bel liked them that much either. The shirts were plain white button-downs, and the grey wool sweaters were adorned with the Slytherin emblem. And robes…emerald green on the inside…she assumed were to be worn at all times, given the rather chilly mountain air outside. The skirts, however, were a different story. Pleats and all, they were going to look like muggle schoolgirls from decades ago.

"You're right, they definitely leave something to be desired. I don't like skirts much more than you do," Bel sighed, as she brushed her hair—somewhat unsuccessfully—but managed to tie it up behind her head in a sloppy ponytail. "But you still have to wear them today, _whether you like it or not._ Leave the inevitable skirt crusade until at least tomorrow, please." Bel grabbed the skirt from Cat's uniform off the ground and threw it at her. "We've had this conversation before, after Diagon Alley, remember? You promised to behave for the first few days. Come on, or Scorpius and I will just have to leave you."

Breakfast was pretty good, at least in Bel's opinion. Cat didn't like it because it had eggs—Cat didn't enjoy eggs—and she was still quietly fuming from the skirt debacle earlier. Scorpius was rather pleased with the uniform, and had even taken the time to make an effort with his hair instead of letting it hang over his eyes like normal. Of course the sight of Scorpius's nice black pants had elicited another round of barely audible growling from Cat.

As they walked, Bel realized for the first time exactly how many students there were at Hogwarts. The hallways were filled past bursting, students were pushing and shoving, and there was a decent amount of yelling reverberating as older kids tried to navigate their younger siblings towards their classes (or away from classes as the case may be. Bel distinctly heard one first year informed that Potions was in a tower). If Bel hadn't been clinging to Scorpius and Cat, she would've definitely gotten lost as well. She had imagined that Hogwarts would be a sort of grand, stoic kind of place, the hallways eerily empty yet enchantingly alluring. At the moment, it was definitely chaotic and loud.

Scorpius veered to the right down a staircase that led to the section of the dungeons where potions classes were held. Thankfully, Bel had overheard from some of the older Slytherins lecturing other first years, so she knew it was directly down the hall from the Slytherin common room. The dungeons were a bit less crowded, since the only class held down in them was Potions, and the crowd gradually thinned out until there were only thoroughly confused Gryffindor and Slytherin first years. The dungeons, in contrast to the Slytherin common room, were dark, damp, and dimly lit.

"These dungeons are so musty it'll be a miracle if I go the year without getting sick from it," Cat complained as the three of them strolled into the classroom.

"Come on, Cat." Scorpius groaned, sharing a long-suffering look with Bel. Although Cat was normally good-natured, if something annoyed her the mood had a tendency to last all day.

The Potions classroom, to Bel's surprise, was well lit and roomy. Apparently only dungeon corridors were neglected. There were probably ten or twenty high-topped tables strewn around the room, with stools pushed neatly underneath them. Each table could easily hold five students and their cauldrons. Against one wall was an unnerving cabinet full of something-or-other that had to be secured with a steel padlock the size of a textbook; Bel made a mental note to not go near it. The blackboard at the front of the class had a large amount of poor handwriting scrawled across it—formulas, equations, some sort of list—Bel couldn't tell. Multiple white stubs of chalk were laid at the bottom of the board, along with an eraser that had seen better days. No teacher was in the classroom, so students wandered around the classroom or sat at desks with their friends. She noticed James walk in and nudged Scorpius and Cat toward a few desks near the back of the room, as far away from the strange boy as they could get.

James entered the room hesitantly, not knowing anyone. People who asked for autographs definitely didn't count he decided, shuddering as he spotted the girl that had been willing to pay Teddy from last night waving at him from the front row. When his eyes landed on Bel, Scorpius and Cat, he turned in the opposite direction. He eventually decided on a desk in the front of the class occupied by a kind looking Gryffindor girl, whom he had not noticed the night before in the swarm of students being directed to dormitories.

James pulled out _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger, extracted his quill and ink, and dropped his bag down with a thump on the scuffed floor. He quickly became bored with the class, as it seemed nothing would be done today, so he pulled out the small composition notebook he had dedicated to Potions and began to formulate a scathing letter to his parents. He had heard students who were wandering towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts class murmuring something about Harry Potter, and this combined with his experiences last night had combined to make him furious. _How could they send me here without saying anything,_ he fumed as he scrawled out the letter.

In the back of the room, a door unseen by almost all the first years swung open to reveal the most average looking man Bel had ever seen. He walked right past her and she stared curiously at him until he turned around to face the class.

The man was of middling height, but had no interesting or distinctive features. His hunched posture, mousy brown hair parted on the left, and his rectangular glasses would have been equally at home anywhere. His eyes were also a dull brown color, Bel observed as he scanned the classroom. His robes were all black, and he seemed relatively normal. At least as normal as any wizard could really be, and spectacularly average for Hogwarts, according to some of the stories Bel had heard at the Manor. Hogwarts teachers usually ran more on the werewolf or half-giant end of the spectrum.

He turned sharply on his heels and began to clean the blackboard with the beaten up eraser. The man dropped it when he was done and picked up a stub of white chalk, scrawling a name in the same horribly illegible handwriting on the board. The noise of the chalk screeching across the black board made numerous students, including Bel, wince in their seats. The man, whom Bel had officially decided was the most boring teacher in the world, tossed the chalk down on the table in front of him and finally took it upon himself to address the class.

"Hello, class." He pompously straightened out his robes and began to pace around the front of the room. "My name is Evander Thorne…Professor Thorne to all of you. I hope you will remember to stay awake in my class." He slammed his hand down on the desk of a student who had decided to attempt to catch up on the sleep the awful alarm clocks had deprived them all of. "And if you do such and apply yourself in my class, you will do fine." Professor Thorne turned around, and continued to lecture the class about the "Do's and Don'ts" of potions. Probably his standard first day of school spiel. The teacher had very clearly lost the attention of half the class; students' heads were nodding and eyes were drooping. Some kids even had their heads on the table and eyes closed, napping. _Almost up to Binns' legendary standards,_ thought Bel dimly.

James was nearly done with his letter to his parents, when Professor Thorne pounced.

"Mr. Potter."

"Yes sir?" James hastily closed the cover of his notebook before Thorne could see it, and fervently hoped the ink that had yet to dry didn't smear.

"Since you obviously know _so_ much about what not to do when brewing a potion that you find you can so carelessly ignore me, should you or should you not begin brewing before you've read all instructions?" he snapped.

Despite knowing the answer—something he felt was painfully obvious—James felt a slight twinge of embarrassment for being pointed out. He shifted uneasily in his seat and opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Professor Thorne.

"Just as I thought. You may consider paying attention in class before letting the status of your parents pollute your judgement," he sneered before turning away.

Bel found herself stifling a laugh at Professor Thorne's comment to James, but at the same time confused. What did James's parents have to do with how he acted in class? James seemed to be a perfectly normal mildly terrified first year—what was so special about him? The rest of the class seemed to be in on the joke, judging by the snickers that were much too loud to be just pleasure at another's misfortune and relief about their own escape. Bel pulled a piece of paper out of her notebook and wrote a note to Scorpius.

Scorpius, who actually had been doing his best to pay attention in class, jolted a bit when Bel elbowed him to draw his attention to her note. He picked it up and read it quickly.

Do you think James's parents had anything to do with mine? Scorpius looked to Bel and shrugged. He scrawled back,

I couldn't tell you, but it's worth checking out. The adults at home certainly don't like Harry Potter much, so that's promising.

Bel began to write a response when she noticed Professor Thorne glaring at her as he spoke. She didn't want to be the second victim of his ridicule in the first twenty minutes of class, so she gently set down the quill and whispered to Scorpius, "We'll talk about this later."

When Potions had ended, much to every student's pleasure, James found himself wandering the halls of Hogwarts by himself. He had no actual friends in his own year with whom he could walk from class to class…well at least not yet. James fully intended to make plenty of friends. _But definitely not that Bel girl from the train,_ he thought.

James rushed up the staircase out of the dungeons, and felt some of the older students shove past him, almost sending him tumbling back down the flight. He barely regained his balance, and managed to push his way through the crowded hallways towards where Teddy and Victoire had told him the Defense Against the Dark Arts class was held. He had been curious as to why the class was still necessary, considering there hadn't been any major threat against all of wizard-kind in years. According to his dad, even the Auror office had been quiet for ages.

The classroom came up on his left sooner than James had anticipated. The only reason he didn't pass it was because of the swarm of first year Gryffindors crowding into the space. It was larger than the Potions dungeon, but James assumed that was because they had to practice spells, and a confined space wouldn't work for spellwork. The room felt cramped, however, due to the four rows of ten desks each, two seats per desk. Nearly every seat was taken by the time James managed to shove his way through the door. He scanned the room for an empty seat, and there were only two he found: one right in front of the teacher's desk and another near the middle of the classroom. Pushing through students, James fought his way to the desk in the middle of the room and sat down next to a girl he had, again, failed to notice the previous night. He set his bag down on the floor and turned to the girl.

"I'm James Potter. What's your name?" He tried to sound as friendly as possible, so as not to come off as arrogant or snarky. That seemed to be most people's initial opinion of him.

"Potter? You mean Harry Potter's son?" The girl asked, seemingly amazed.

"Yes, but I already told you who I was. What's your name?" James already regretted his decision to introduce himself, annoyed with whatever was so fascinating about his father.

"No need to be rude," the girl remarked as she pushed a strand of light brown hair behind her ear. "I'm Agnes Holloway. You can call me Holly though. I don't understand why my parents named me Agnes. It's a horrible name, isn't it? They said it was my great-great-great-grandmother's name or something."

"Well, I don't think Agnes is a horrible name. We both got off quite lucky in the name department if you ask me. My brother is saddled with Albus Severus," James replied, trying his best to get on Holly's good side so he would have someone to talk to in classes. She had been in Potions too, and seemed to be in his group of Gryffindor first years.

Holly looked at James sideways. "Thanks."

"Hello everyone!" Silence fell over the room, and everyone shifted their gaze to the stairs. James turned his attention to the staircase at the front of the room. A slim woman was descending the stairs, dark hair flowing out behind her.

She wore a dark brown skirt and light orange flowing shirt underneath her earth-colored robes. She had black wavy hair, dark tan skin, and piercing blue eyes that shone out against the dark colors. She was quite petite, but had an air about her that made her intimidating despite her small stature. A wide smile spread across her face, and she seemed relatively young, which put James at ease. He'd already had enough of snooty teachers, and it was only the first day of school.

"So, as you all know—if you managed to find the right classroom—this is Defense Against the Dark Arts," the teacher said as she neared the black board in the front of the room. "My name is Kefira Toran." She wrote her name on the blackboard. "I can assume that the one question you all still have, however, is 'Why is this class necessary?' Does anyone have any ideas?" Nobody in the room seemed to want to answer her question. "None?" The room remained quiet.

"It's hard to think of any reasons, isn't it? Many people have argued that this class is pointless because no major threats have occurred in years, including many of my students who just want to lighten their course load. Of course there are small creatures, but the chance of anyone encountering one is very slim. The biggest threat to wizard-kind happened over ten years ago with Voldemort's rise to power, and since he was defeated by Harry Potter and his friends, nothing else has endangered us." James raised his hand, and Professor Toran nodded at him, signaling that he could speak.

"What exactly did Harry and his friends do?" James asked.

"That's an excellent question, Mr.-"

"James," he replied, slightly embarrassed. "James Potter." Professor Toran's eyes widened a bit at the mention of his last name. _Surely he must be joking, he just wants to show off in front of his new friends,_ she thought. Some kids sent glares in James's direction. They stopped when Professor Toran cleared her throat.

"What kind of idiot are you?" Holly whispered sharply. "How can you not know about what your dad did in the Second Wizarding War?"

"Ask him that. He hasn't told me anything." James replied defensively.

"Well, as we all know, the Second Wizarding War occurred because of Voldemort's second rise to power," At the mention of Voldemort's name, some students shifted uneasily in their seats. Professor Toran plowed on, regardless. "During his control of our world, he attempted to eradicate all Muggle-borns, he infiltrated the Ministry of Magic and changed laws to help ferret them out. His plan, if he had succeeded in dominating the wizarding world, was to then conquer the Muggle world as well. When Voldemort first returned, the Ministry was in denial. This made it easy for Voldemort and his followers, called Death Eaters, to overthrow the Ministry. The battle, which had previously been on a predominately political scape due to threatening statements from the corrupted Ministry, turned into an all out war. The very school you're in sustained immense physical damage. After many unfortunate incidents, Harry finally delivered a fatal blow to Voldemort. He died in the courtyard, and with his death the war ended. Many of the Death Eaters were killed or imprisoned."

Hands shot up in the air; James had opened a can of worms. Students were talking amongst each other and it took Professor Toran a while to quiet everyone down. Everyone seemed to have an opinion or a story, ranging from quite reasonable to Quibbler-worthy. "One at a time everyone!" She pointed at a girl in the front row off to the left a bit.

"What does the Ministry of Magic actually do? If they couldn't stop V-V-You Know Who, what use are they?" The girl put her hand down.

"They're like our government. They make the laws and enforce them. Most of the time they are quite effective, but even the Auror department was not equipped to handle Voldemort."

One boy couldn't wait to be called on so he shout out his question. "Did Voldemort have a real name?"

Professor Toran froze, apparently contemplating whether or not to tell them. "Yes, he did. His name was Tom Riddle. He went to Hogwarts and was a member of Slytherin house." After she answered that question, almost all the hands in the room went down. All of them except James's hand.

"Yes, Mr. Potter."

"How exactly did Harry kill Voldemort?" James asked. Toran stayed quiet for a moment. James could see her body tense a bit.

"Well, uh, you see-it's… It's a complicated bit of magic. Voldemort did something, it was considered very inhumane—and it still is. What he did, um…" Professor Toran's voice quickly faded away under the locked eyes of 80 students staring at her for a long time. Their eyes pierced through the silence and seemed to hold her captive. "Well, never mind. What he did was bad, and so he died because of it. He was killed in the end with a charm that typically doesn't do bodily harm to any wizard, but because his body was in bad condition before the charm struck him, and other unusual circumstances, it killed him. We'll be learning more about it as time goes on, but this is not the appropriate time."

Students looked around the room, and eventually, almost all eyes were on James. He looked to Holly, who was looking him dead in the eye with an almost accusing look.

"What?" James said.

"Nothing."

"Okay everyone. Um, now that we're done with questions—which we are, Mr. Abercrombie—take out your textbooks. We'll be reading a bit about Dark Creatures and Dangerous Beasts. Even if they are rare, it is just as important to learn how to handle them as to defend yourselves against other wizards, whether garden variety or Dark Lords. However, your homework, due anytime this term before Christmas Break, will be to write a paper of at least 600 words—that's 14 inches— on The Tragedy of the Wizarding Wars and Why They Must Never Be Allowed to Happen Again, as you seem to be so interested in it." That elicited a collective groan from the class.

"I was hoping I would at least go a day without homework," Holly sighed under her breath.

James smiled to himself as he pulled out his textbook. "What did you expect? It's school."✶ ✶ ✶

Homework had preoccupied all Bel's time for too long, delaying her trip to the library. Ever since the first day in potions, she'd been as curious about Harry Potter as she had always been about who her real parents were. The idea that the two topics might be connected remained a tantalizing idea. As time went on, she heard bits and pieces of what Harry did in the Second Wizarding War, but always disjointed and without any real substance to them. Bel was dead set on visiting the library today, and didn't know how much longer she could wait to begin researching her parents. If Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius hadn't kept her in the dark, she wouldn't have to scavenge for information herself.

After dinner that evening, Bel dragged Scorpius and Cat with her to the library. They had wanted to go back to the common room and rest before Astronomy that night, but Bel insisted that this was the perfect time to begin. It took them longer than they had anticipated to get there, but only because Cat had insisted she knew a shortcut. She didn't. After what felt like days of wandering through the darkening halls of Hogwarts, the trio finally made it to the library.

It was larger than any library Bel had ever imagined. She'd never actually seen one, aside from the room in Scorpius's home that had held all the books in her world, and her imagination had apparently failed her in picturing what a real library would look like. The library at Hogwarts was much more incredible than Bel had anticipated.

Shelves stretched high up to the arched ceiling far above their heads. There were small tables between each shelf, so students could work without having to leave the section they were looking into. Small desk lamps sat on the tables so one could do late night research. Books flew this way and that, placing themselves back on shelves. Bel wondered if the library even needed a librarian. Regardless, there was one.

Madame Pince, sat studiously behind a large desk, thin wire rimmed glasses halfway down the bridge of her nose. Her dark brown and steel hair was pulled back in a tight bun. When Bel placed her hand on the desk, Madame Prince looked up from the book she was reading. Closing the book, she set it down next to a stereotypically pointy hat, and addressed Bel coldly. "How may I help you?"

"Um, I would like to see any books pertaining to the Second Wizarding War please," Bel said. Scorpius nudged her a bit and she stood straighter. "Also, how many books are we allowed to check out at a time?"

Madame Pince scanned her eyes down a list, although Bel doubted she needed to. "Any books on the Second Wizarding War will be in Recent Wizarding History—somewhere around Rows 27-40. Look at the sides of the bookshelves for an index of books on the shelf. You may check out two books per student at a time, just be sure to come tell me about it before you go waltzing out of the library with any of my books." Madame Pince looked down at Bel, Scorpius and Cat with a stern eye and pointed them in the direction of the section.

"Thank you ma'am." Bel turned on her heels and started walking briskly towards the Recent Wizarding History. "All right, guys. We don't have a lot of time, since the library closes at 10. We need to cover as much of it as we can, and check out the most promising ones we find."

"Bel, we have Astronomy tonight," Cat complained. "Why can't we do this tomorrow night or this weekend?"

"Because. Haven't we been trying of figure this out for years? Besides, we still have Toran's Christmas present to deal with." Scorpius reasoned.

"Don't snap Scorp, I understand where she's coming from. I know it's rotten timing with Astronomy and being up until one in the morning, but this is the first time we've had, and I need your help. Besides, you guys are just as curious as I am. They've been lying to you too," Bel said as she wove her way through the labyrinthine shelves. She chose a book off the shelf titled _The War of the Century_ by Marian Whittaker. It was a sizable book, and with one glance at the table of contents, Bel could tell it might be useful. She flipped to the page that pertained to the specific Death Eaters involved in the war, and turned to Scorpius and Cat. "Look for any books about Death Eater incidents, or books about specific Death Eaters. Find two books each, and we're out of here."

Scorpius and Cat spread out in opposite directions, and Bel continued to rifle through the books in her spot, searching desperately for answers. She was looking for a book on Death Eaters, because that _had_ to be what her parents had been. Nothing else made sense, and there was nowhere else to start. No matter how hard she tried, however, she couldn't find anything exclusively about Death Eaters. Bel flipped through what seemed to be hundreds of books, skimming pages for names or families, anything specific. She found nothing. It was as if history was in denial. Although a small part of her screamed a bit on the inside, she made an extremely exasperated noise that was only slightly louder than she intended. Heads turned, James's included (he was apparently researching the First Wizarding War for Toran's essay) and within an instant Scorpius and Cat came around the corner.

"Bel?" Cat gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't get it. There's nothing. Nothing! There's not a single thing that seems relevant. What if it's something awful and that's why they didn't tell us?" Bel cried. Tears stung the backs of her eyes. She had been waiting and wondering for too long to accept nothing, but finding out would be almost as bad.

"Hey, Bel, it's ok." Scorpius hugged Bel tightly and as he let go, put both his hands firmly on her shoulders. "You're tired, but there's got to be something, I promise. There isn't nothing. I promise we'll find out who your parents are, all right? Besides, I know you. You won't be happy accepting an unanswered question for long."

Bel nodded her head. "Ok."

"Bel, trust me. We _will_ find out." Cat smiled. "But if you don't mind, I've found my two books, and I'm going to go tell Madame Pince that I'm checking them out so I don't fall asleep in Astronomy." With Cat hurrying ahead of them, Bel and Scorpius trailed out of the library, a stack of hefty books held precariously in a pile in Scorpius's arms.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**


	6. The Memorial

The Memorial

"Scorpius, listen to me. The likelihood of a first year making it onto the team is somewhere between slim and nonexistent," Bel pleaded.

"Bel, I don't need you to patronize me," Scorpius said, chin held high as he marched confidently out to the Quidditch pitch. Bel and Cat trailed after him, frantically continuing their last minute attempt to keep him from…well…embarrassing himself. Bel and Cat had seen him practice; they had even helped him from time to time. Unfortunately, he was far from what they imagined the Slytherin team would accept, and not even in the same universe as what they were looking for. Scorpius certainly wasn't what the team needed if they wanted to have any hope of beating Gryffindor—even once—during the entire school year. Not to say he couldn't possibly improve, but for the past two months Bel had been suggesting that he hold off on trying out until he got in a bit more practice.

"Scorpius, we aren't trying to make you upset. We're just telling you what's practical." Bel panted, jogging to keep up with him.

"Oh, what's the harm, Bel? Worst that'll happen is that he'll become the laughing stock of the school, or at least the house. I don't see the problem," Cat snickered. She had given up yesterday on trying to deter him from trying out, and had jumped on the bandwagon. While Bel did think it would be entertaining to watch Scorpius try, and possibly ram into a goalpost, she didn't want him to be too upset if—no, when—people fell off their brooms laughing at him.

"Yes, but Cat…" Bel spluttered before Scorpius cut her off.

"Bel. Cat. Trust me. I. Know. What. I'm. Doing. Besides, my father made it on the team no problem. It's in my genes." Scorpius hurried up the rest of the way to the field, leaving Bel and Cat to rush after him.

"Uncle Lucius let his father practice in the garden—something we were never allowed to do—except for a few times this past year. _And_ Uncle Draco was in second year when he made the team," Bel muttered to Cat, too low for Scorpius to hear. Cat only snickered in reply.

The bleachers, mercifully, were relatively empty aside from a few girls who were sitting on the other side of the field, and as Bel and Cat tracked up the steps to the front row of seats, they noticed that Scorpius was indeed the only first year trying out. Cat didn't bother to stifle her laugh.

"Look at the idiot down there. Everyone else has been playing Quidditch for at least a year, and he thinks he's going to get a spot." Cat sat down and pulled Bel down next to her. Bel rolled her eyes and looked down at the figures gathered on the grass near the goal hoops.

The day was overcast, the low bottoms of the clouds forming a flat grey ceiling, not uncommon for a day in autumn at Hogwarts. The air was thick and wet, and a chill wind blew down from the mountains, cooling off the day. The students trying out were huddled around the center goal, all lazily chatting and leaning on their brooms. All of them except for Scorpius, who was nervously clutching his hand-me-down Nimbus 2001 and was standing stock still a few yards away from the others.

"All right everyone, here's how it's going to work," the captain said. He was a lanky boy, with his dark brown hair combed back neatly. He wore an emerald uniform with the number 04 and the last name Bleier printed largely on the back. "We're going to start with a basic drill. You'll each get a partner and you'll take turns flying around the field, tossing the Quaffle back and forth. Last year's Keeper, Allissa Trin, will be guarding the goals and whichever one of you has the Quaffle by the time you get to them tries to make it in."

Bel could see Scorpius tense a bit more (if it were even possible at that point. He was basically stone before the captain even began to speak). The captain began to go down the line, calling off names for partners. "Olivia McMyer and Ian Grov, Melanye Turner and Will Callaghan, Giana Alvi and-" When he got to Scorpius, he paused. He peered down at the younger boy. Although Scorpius was somewhat tall for his age, the captain must've been well over six feet tall, because he positively loomed over Scorpius. "And who are you exactly?"

Scorpius stood up straighter and tried to seem as confident as possible. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy." He stuttered a bit as he said his name.

"And…why are you here? Are you lost? This is Quidditch tryouts. First years don't play Quidditch." Bleier commented. He crossed his arms and continued to glare at Scorpius.

"I was planning on trying out. That's why I'm here. It's not against the rules for first years to be on house teams. I checked," Scorpius said a bit less confidently.

"You are either incredibly stupid or…I suppose you could be as good as you think you are, but I doubt it. But as I can't actually prevent you from making a fool of yourself, you can fly with Alvi." Scorpius's face began to turn a bright red color. The rest of the students standing around began to snicker, and Cat couldn't help but laugh with them. Bel felt even worse when they actually started flying. Scorpius was, to say the least, a mess. He was paired with the Giana girl, who was about the same size as Scorpius, but a far superior flyer. She had to constantly slow down and backtrack to wait for Scorpius, and most of the time when he caught up to her Scorpius would drop the Quaffle. A collective gale of laughter rippled across the pitch when Scorpius dropped the Quaffle for what felt like the thousandth time. Thankfully, Giana was the one in possession of the Quaffle when the pair finally approached the goal—she made a neat score through the left hoop—and as Scorpius descended, there was a collective mass of teasing.

"Did you see the way he threw?" one boy said. He was doubled over clutching his chest he was laughing so hard. "Nobody throws a Quaffle underhanded!"

"And he rode his broom all knock-kneed. That couldn't possibly be comfortable," one of the blonde girls chortled.

"Bel, just look at him! We told him not to go! But it was absolutely hilarious…" Cat convulsed with laughter. Bel elbowed her sharply, nearly pushing Cat off her seat. Cat caught herself on the edge of the box, still shaking with mirth.

"Cat!" She said sternly.

"Bel!" Cat mimicked. "You can't possibly tell me you didn't find that funny. I heard you laughing!"

"The last thing Scorpius will want is to get bad mouthed by his friends. Strangers are one thing. Us is another." Bel scolded.

"I don't care what you say, Bel. That was hysterical. Even Scorpius will think so…in a decade or two!" Cat smiled, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. Bell punched Cat lazily and began to smile. She was right, it was too funny not to laugh, but poor Scorpius.

After dinner that evening, Bel decided it would be a good idea to take advantage of their study hall and continue to research the Death Eaters, but Scorpius thought they should go to the quad and try to make sense of what they already had. Cat, being the undecided vote, had to sit while her friends talked her ears off. She eventually landed on going to the library to see if they could find any more information, as they had sifted through what they had three times already. Scorpius silently followed Bel and Cat to the library, trailing along, completely defeated. When he finally pulled himself out of his post-Quidditch dejection, he asked the question he had been dreading to pose.

"Was I really that bad?" Scorpius queried, almost too softly to be heard.

Cat opened her mouth to say something, probably something witty, but Bel elbowed her in the ribs so hard she staggered to the side. Cat changed tack. "It's not that you were bad, it's just that you could've used a bit more practice, that's all."

"Really?"

"No Scorpi-" Bel bumped her again. "I mean, yeah Scorpius. It wasn't all that bad. Maybe next year." "All right." Scorpius rounded the corner to the library and almost ran into a tall boy in Slytherin robes, with a Head Boy badge gleaming on his chest. He seemed oddly out of place coming from the library when most students his age would still be in class. He carried a ludicrous stack of books that rose up to his face, and he seemed to be struggling. The books wobbled, and without thinking, Bel hurried over to the boy and caught the one that had just began to fall off the stack before it hit the ground.

"Be careful," she said as she looked around the large stack of books at the boy. He had dirty blonde hair that was combed meticulously back, aside from one piece that hung in front of his blue eyes. He had a stern look on his face at first, but it lightened when he saw Bel holding one of his books. The boy would've grabbed it from her, had he any available hands.

With a glance at the cover, Bel noticed the title of book was not written in English, but a series of strange symbols embossed in old silver. "What class is this for? This looks like some pretty esoteric magic."

The boy feigned an uninterested smile and knelt down a bit so Bel could set the book in the crook of his arm. "It's for Ancient Runes," he replied in a vaguely polite voice. "I'm Jacob Zagyva. And you are?"

"Oh, right. I'm Bel Black." She motioned to Scorpius and Cat. "And these are my friends Scorpi-" She trailed off as she noticed the older boy staring at her intently.

Jacob's eyes flickered over her face, and a shadow of an emotion flashed in his eyes—surprise perhaps—before his eyes locked onto hers and he cut her off. A real smile lit his face this time. "What did you say your name was…Black? How intriguing. And I thought that the name died out in the war. How fortunate for your family—a Black just turning up out of nowhere. Who were your parents, if you don't mind me asking?"

Bel felt her stomach drop at the mention of her parents. "My parents did die in the war—just after I was born—and I don't remember them. They were Abraxos and Miranda Black. My guardian is my Uncle Yaxley, but I was tutored at Malfoy Manor with my friends." She gestured to Scorpius and Cat, still standing just behind her.

Jacob must've noticed the hint of well concealed apprehension in Bel, because he almost immediately changed the direction of the conversation. He seemed even more interested than before. "I'm so sorry for your loss. What are you here at the library for?"

Sensing Bel's hesitation while scrambling for an answer, Cat cut in with one of her ready-made excuses. "We're working on a project for Defense Against the Dark Arts." Jacob glared at Cat, shutting her down. "Countercurses." She added as an after-thought. Bel shot a glance at Cat, wondering why she stopped talking so soon. She looked back to Jacob and saw his face flicker back into a smile. "Well, I wish you luck in your studies," he said as he headed off. "I'll see you around," he called behind him. Bel's eyes followed him as he turned the corner and as soon as he did, she grinned at Cat.

"Thank you for that. I couldn't think of a good excuse. We've used just about every reasonable one in the book this week." She furrowed her brow at her friend. "Why did you stop talking? You can usually keep spinning out those stories until everyone just gives up and chooses to believe you."

Cat shrugged. "He looked at me strangely. Maybe he doesn't like us. We're first years it's not exactly uncommon for first years to be ignored and teased by seventh years, is it?"

"He did seem to be interested in talking to Bel," Scorpius interjected. Bel rolled her eyes and Cat couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't understand. It's probably more likely that he just doesn't like us. Can we just keep looking? I would like to get a good night's sleep. I feel like I've been tired since I got on the train to this school," Cat commented, leading them through the rows of shelves.

"Sure, but I doubt you'll ever catch up on sleep," Scorpius said as he trailed after Bel and Cat into the library. He shrugged his bag higher onto his shoulder and shoved his hands grudgingly into his pockets.

"Why can't we just learn some basic maths? All the muggles are learning right now is that two and two equal four. They have it so easy. It would be much easier than trying to figure out who my parents are," Bel groaned. She walked up to Madame Pince and gave her an extremely fake smile. "Good evening Madame Pince. Did Magic of the 20th Century come in yet?" Madame Pince didn't look up from what she was doing—most likely a record of all the students that had ever dog-eared one of her precious books.

"I know what you and your friends are up to, Miss Black. You act as though I don't know exactly what goes on in this library." Pince shut the document she was updating, and leaned over the counter to glare at Bel, just as Cat and Scorpius caught up to her. "I see you three looking through sections on the Wizarding Wars and checking out books on Death Eaters. I don't know what you could possibly do with all of what you're gathering. But I do know that you've been visiting this library far too frequently and remaining in it far too long to still be working on the same school project you were months ago."

Bel shrunk away from the counter, eyes wide. "We'll just go and work on our Defense Against the Dark Arts essay that was assigned _yesterday_. Thank you ma'am." She turned around and started hastily towards the usual section: Recent Wizarding History, Row 37. She spoke over her shoulder as she walked. "I didn't like the way that Jacob ignored you two. The whole thing gave me the creeps."

Scorpius stifled a laugh. "He seemed much too friendly, if you ask me." Bel shot a glare in his direction, eliciting a hearty laugh from Cat.

James made his way into the Great Hall for lunch after charms and sat down across from Teddy and Victoire. He grabbed a few sandwiches from the platters spread across the table, placed them on his plate, and poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice. He took two bites out of his sandwich and promptly dropped it back to his plate. "I have a question."

"I have an answer," Teddy replied, attempting to slice into his apple with a butter knife.

"There was a guy who was talking to Bel as they went into the library and he had a really big stack of books. He seemed to like Bel-"

"Here we go again," Victoire muttered under her breath. "This doesn't really sound like a question, James. Bear in mind that a question has a naturally inquisitive tone," Victoire continued, loud enough to be heard over the roar.

James let out an exasperated breath. "I'm getting there, I'm getting there, all right?" He cleared his throat and continued to talk. "Who is he? He said his name was Jacob something, I don't remember his last name."

"Jacob Zagyva." Teddy and Victoire said in unison. James gave them a confused look, and Victoire continued to talk. "He's a Slytherin prefect, and the Head Boy at that. He enforces just about every rule in the book. He doesn't exactly go out of his way to get people in trouble, but he will catch you if you are breaking even the slightest rule. He seems to enjoy turning people over to Filch. Jacob…" Victoire hesitated for a moment. "The only good thing I can really say is that he usually turns in Slytherins just as often as the rest of us."

"He's kind of a recluse, to be perfectly honest," Teddy added as he bit into his sandwich. "I think I've only ever seen him when he's getting students in trouble, or talking to his handful of sixth and seventh year Slytherin mates. And you said he was talking to Bel and her friends? And not telling them off for tracking mud in the corridors?"

James shook his head. "Just Bel—not so much her friends." He took a sip of his juice. There was a part of him that wanted to ask Bel what she was talking to Jacob so intently about, but the rest of him was adamantly screaming no, so he decided against it. "He seemed to not care about the other two."

Teddy laughed. "No a surprise there. They're not the most inviting bunch."

Teddy and Victoire had a free period after lunch, so they strolled around the back of the castle to the lawn where Professor Wood was holding flying lessons. There was plenty of time, and it was a beautiful day—the omnipresent clouds of autumn chasing each other across the sky—so they decided to take the long way around. They were walking along the shore of the lake when James spotted something on a small hill where the lake met the tree line. It was a large bronze statue, twice as tall as a man, and it practically glowed in the low light, somehow seeming to catch every stray sunbeam. James changed course slightly to get a better look, and so did his friends, Teddy grumbling something to Victoire.

"This is the memorial, isn't it?" James asked, looking at Teddy who nodded his head, not looking particularly happy

As he began to climb the hillock, the lines of the statue suddenly snapped into focus, and the form of a phoenix flying up out of a fire took shape. Each feather of the bird's body was finely wrought, and the flames seemed to dance as the swirls of color in the metal mirrored those of true flames. The trio walked slowly around the sculpture, taking in the intricacies of the work. Near the bottom, on a horizontal log of the fire facing the castle, a single line was inscribed.

"Rise and Rise Again," read James. "What does it mean?" he asked, finally tearing his attention away from the art and back to his older friends.

"No one knows," answered Victoire. "Just about everyone comes out here once during their first year, and I asked Flitwick. He said that the goblins who made it refused to say." She craned her neck back until she could see the bird's head. "Other than the obvious reference to the rebirth of the phoenix—Flitwick said it was probably supposed to be Fawkes—in the twelve years it's been sitting here no one has ever come up with a satisfactory answer." She sighed, "It really is pretty at dawn and dusk. The names of our fallen—those that died in the Battle of Hogwarts—are written in fire just under the surface."

"We could come back after dinner if it's that beautiful. I don't understand why more people don't spend time here," James commented in a slightly puzzled voice.

"Most people don't come out here more than once, not without a very good reason," Teddy replied in a strange voice, refusing to meet James's eyes.

"But _why_?" James pressed.

Victoire took James's hand and led them over to the far side of the hill. "It's because of the other half of the memorial." A great ring of discolored grass marred the landscape. It was perhaps twenty yards in diameter, with slightly uneven edges, and a small metal _something_ in the exact center. "They say it's where they burned the unclaimed bodies of the other side. They dug a pit in the ground and built a giant pyre. Some of the creatures too, the Acromantulas. And _him_ if you believe the stories." As James followed Teddy down the hill and onto the grass, he felt a chill run through the air as he stepped into the circle. The grass crunched beneath his feet, and it was yellowed as if dying. The strangest feeling crawled down his spine, as if the ground itself resented his presence here.

"Is it always like this here?" James asked quietly, glancing around the dead patch of ground.

"It's been like this for at least as long as the seventh years have been here. The grass never dies, but it never really grows either— just stays this sickly yellow. It's always a bit colder here than on the rest of the grounds, summer and winter. It gives every sane person the creeps, even the Slytherins. No one really likes to talk about it, especially the teachers. It was really rare to get that much out of any of them. Even if the questions were asked about the more pleasant half," replied Teddy. Soon they reached the small plaque that marked the center of the distortion. It was about a foot square, and made of the same sort of bronze as the statue.

"Every Soul Will Taste Death," read Victoire in a flat voice. "We came, you've seen it. You ever going to come back?" Victoire was shivering in the strange chill of the cursed ground.

James turned around in a slow circle, taking in the beautiful bird and the dead grass. "No, I think this is a once in a life time experience."

"Finally," Victoire muttered as she half ran back towards the castle. "Better hurry or you'll miss class," she called over her shoulder. Teddy and James hurried to catch up to her, and though neither would admit it, to leave the cursed ground behind them as quickly as possible. The three walked in an uncomfortable silence until a knot of students with brooms could be seen on a grassy field. Victoire and Teddy hurried back to the warmth of the castle, and James trudged on to class.

He had just fished out the least dilapidated broomstick that was left in the sad assortment lying on the grass, when he was startled by the sound of running footsteps. _Someone is cutting it even closer than I was_ , he thought distantly. It became slightly more important when he realized that the dark haired girl that joined him in sifting through the broomsticks was none other than Bel.

The loud voice of Professor Wood rang out over the heads of the students, "Everyone picked partners? Right you late lot can split Goyle with Malfoy, and Potter with Black." He then started throwing out large soft balls from a bag on the ground. "Every pair take a beach ball and practice throwing it to your partner— _and only your partner_ —while flying around the field. Right, mount up!" Wood called out and blew his piercing whistle.

James looked at Bel with dismay. Before he could say anything, she glared at him. "I don't like this any more than you do, but let's just get this over with." She threw a leg over her broom and kicked off into the air and began to circle over his head. _It's just for one class,_ James fumed as he, too, took off into the air, carrying their ball with him. He threw it at Bel, probably harder than he should have, but it bounced harmlessly off her shoulder, and she caught it before it had fallen more than a few feet. Bel had to dive to catch the ball from James's badly aimed throw, She sent him her nastiest glare before aiming it straight at his face and giving it all the speed she could in retaliation. It was worth the Professor blowing his whistle at her to see the look on James's face as he swerved to avoid being smacked in the nose. Of course, the next throw that nearly knocked her off her broom was not nearly so satisfying. She was soon chasing James across the sky, dodging other students as their silent war intensified. After the first few minutes, even the whistle blowing stopped. Wood had apparently given up on disciplining them.

It turned out to be a much more satisfying class than James had expected. Attempting to unseat Bel was quite effective at taking his mind off the chilling reminder of the war from before he was born. Once he actually saw her flight falter, and he felt a twinge of guilt for the viciousness of his last attack, but only a twinge as the return was, if anything, stronger than his original throw had been. It took quite a bit of effort to make a ball weighing only a few ounces sting.

When it was finally time to descend to the ground, James was worn out but exhilarated. He had forgotten how fun it was to fly with someone who actually knew what they were doing, even if it was _with_ only by the loosest of definitions. He could almost forgive her strangeness before he remembered. _She is poking her nose into the people that caused a large part of the grounds to be uninhabitable just by being buried there over a decade ago. Nothing good can come of it._

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**


	7. The Restricted Section

The Restricted Section

Bel pelted through the corridors with Scorpius and Cat close on her heels. They were late for Transfiguration, and Professor Patil was going to kill them. Bel swung around the final corridor and yanked open the heavy wooden door. The classroom was already packed, and it was not immediately clear where the three remaining desks were located. However, as Bel's eyes swept the classroom—filled to bursting with half the Slytherin first years still sitting on desks and talking up a storm—it was immediately apparent that Patil had not arrived yet. She let out a sigh of relief that suddenly shifted into a groan half-way through. _There are the three empty seats,_ she thought. _They are even together. Too bad they are in the front row, directly in front of Patil's desk. Probably why they are empty five minutes after class was supposed to start._ Bel walked reluctantly up the center aisle between the rows of desks. Scorpius and Cat trailed her dejectedly. Bel thought she heard Scorpius mutter something almost inaudible under his breath. It probably was something along the lines of "better to skive off than sit there." Although Bel heartily agreed with the sentiment, sitting under Patil's nose was not quite as bad as her wrath if she found out they were skipping class. Bel dumped her bag on the flagstones under her desk, and plopped into the seat. Her heart was still pounding swiftly from running all the way from the library and putting away all their books after Madam Pince had yelled at them, that she did not hear the small voice hissing up at her for several seconds.

When Bel registered the voice, she glanced angrily at Cat, pretending to be a snake Bel would have to ignore would—and had—strike her as funny, but she was busy digging through her own bag, trying to find her copy of the textbook. Her heart sinking, Bel's eyes slid over her desk until they came to rest on the little creature twisted through a branch on the top of her desk. _Pleasssse, Pleasssse don't hurt me,_ said the tiny emerald grass snake only a foot from Bel's astonished eyes.

 _This day just keeps getting better and better,_ thought Bel. _First being late and now a snake. Of course it somehow knew I could understand it. They always did._ Bel twisted in her seat so she could get a look at the door into Pavarti Patil's office. _Still closed, I can still escape before she comes. If I were sitting in the back of the room, she might not notice, but here, only a few feet away, she is bound to notice something._ Bel quickly weighed her options and stuffed her book and wand back into her bag. Best not to risk it. A shudder ran through her as she hurried back up the aisle to the door remembering the only time she had spoken back to the snakes that had always plagued her. Aunt Narcissa had yelled at her for nearly three hours. It was the only time that she had ever yelled at her, and it was impossible to forget. It had ended with a five-year-old Bel in tears, promising ardently to never do it again, even if no one could see or hear. She had never broken that promise, and in the weeks before leaving for Hogwarts, Uncle Lucius had made her promise not even to let anyone suspect her talent. She had not known that he even knew about that incident.

Bel strode across the open stretch of grass on the quad, intent on going back to the library. She would use the extra time to finish her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework so she could continue researching her past with Scorpius and Cat later. As she walked, Bel was quite unaware of the distant pair of eyes following her truant progress across the grounds.

Several hours later Bel, Scorpius, and Cat sat in a patch of early evening sunlight streaming in from the tall windows on one wall of the study niche that they had commandeered when they had first started living in the library outside of classes. They were surrounded by the familiar teetering stacks of books on recent wizarding history. Each of them had been read and reread carefully over the past few months, but they had yielded depressingly few bits of useful information. Virtually the only new fact that they had uncovered was that Abraxos and Miranda Black had no documented child. In fact, it would have been impossible, even for a witch, for Miranda to have hidden a child during the war—she had been depressingly active. Not that Bel had really believed for a minute that the cover story emerging after an afternoon of Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius locking themselves in Uncle Lucius' study was true, but they had checked it out, just in case. Besides, they hadn't known where else to start.

They faced the same dilemma now. All available routes of inquiry had ended in loops of frustration, and all progress had stalled. Not that they didn't know where the answers were. In fact, Bel could see them from where she sat slumped in an old plush armchair. The gilded letters of _An Account of the Second Wizarding War: The Movements and Atrocities of Death Eaters_ winked at Bel from the first shelf of the restricted section. The three inch thick tome accounted for the whereabouts of all known Death Eaters for the entirety of the war. It was the next step, and it promised to at least reveal a short list of women who had disappeared long enough to be her mother, assuming she had been a Death Eater, which was their only theory. Unfortunately, the book might as well have been locked in the Department of Mysteries for all the use it would do them—Madam Pince's desk was only a few yards away from the entrance, and in her opinion first years had no business knowing the names of those books, let alone reading them.

If it hadn't been for Toran's monster of an essay on "The Tragedy of the Wizarding Wars and Why They Must Never Be Allowed to Happen Again," Bel would have given up on it entirely, but the essay provided a wafer-thin excuse for trying to find the book. _The Movements and Atrocities of Death Eaters_ was mentioned in _A Brief History of the Wizarding Wars_ , and it was just barely plausible that Bel had seen it there. She could pretend not to have known it was restricted. Bel thought it was worth a try, but Cat and Scorpius thought drawing Pince's attention was only one tiny step short of suicidal. Of course, Bel was going to try it anyway, and as the essay was due next class, her window of opportunity was shrinking rapidly.

Bel slipped quietly out of their niche, managing not to disturb her friends, and made her way up to Pince's desk. She stopped in front of the little silver plaque that said Reference Desk—not that any student she had ever heard of had actually asked Pince for help—and waited for Pince to notice her. The greying librarian had always reminded Bel a little bit of a sleeping dragon. The librarian turned her steely stare on Bel, and Bel felt the little bit of confidence that she had scraped together shrivel up and die in her chest.

"What do you want?" barked Pince.

"I…I have an essay on the war for Professor Toran?" wavered Bel. "I was reading _A Brief History of the Wizarding Wars,_ and came across a mention of _An Account of the Second Wizarding War: The Movements and Atrocities of Death Eaters,_ and I thought it might be helpful. But I can't find it. Do you…can you help me find it…." Bel trailed off her carefully crafted rationalization under Pince's double barreled glare.

"I know everything that goes on in this library. Don't think I missed your little project. This interest in the Dark Arts started well before any essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts. So far, you have broken no school rules, but I'm watching you. The moment you do, I will march you straight down to the Headmistress's office. Children of Death Eaters have no business poking their noses where yours has been. As for _An Account of the Second Wizarding War: The Movements and Atrocities of Death Eaters,_ it is in the Restricted Section, where it belongs. Which you knew perfectly well. I was in school with Abraxos and Miranda Black, and they had no respect for the rules either. Get out of my sight." With that Pince slammed shut the book she had been perusing—probably for damage—and stormed off.

Bel slunk back to the little nook where Scorpius and Cat had observed the explosion. Her legs wobbled visibly as she sank back into her armchair. That had been an entirely too close call. Bel hadn't known that Pince had been at Hogwarts at the same time as Abraxos and Miranda. She had drawn too much attention from Pince, and if she continued, Pince might figure out her secret. Bel had no idea what Abraxos and Miranda had been like, but she doubted that her story would hold together under the scrutiny of anyone who had known them. As those thoughts whirled through her head, Bel looked up and met another glare, this time from Scorpius.

"I thought we agreed not to try that!" he hissed. "She was never going to fall for that. You almost got caught, the entire library knows what we've been doing, and now you've tipped Pince off. I told you we should have just stolen it."

As soon as Scorpius said that, Bel could suddenly feel a hundred pairs of eyes on their little enclave. Most of the other students, even the other first years, wore looks of undisguised dislike. The wounds left by the Battle of Hogwarts were still raw, and Bel sank even lower in her seat as she muttered, "I guess we'll just have to take it tonight." Cat grinned as she unfurled that parchment the contained their painstakingly drawn map of the library.

James also had found an accustomed spot in the library to do his homework. It was a window ledge overlooking the grounds, with a scarlet cushion and a little stone slab jutting out of the walls that he used as a desk. The window seat also had the added advantage of being separated from Bel's enclave by only one shelf of the Magical Beasts section. Normally he had to strain his ears to hear bits and pieces of their conversation—even though there was only a single shelf separating them the books were quite thick—but the encounter between Bel and Madam Pince was audible to the entire library. Now, even though they were back to whispering behind the books and he could only hear every third word, the meaning was clear. James could hear Scorpius whispering furiously, "…we agreed…try that!…never going to fall…tipped Pince off…stolen it." Then James heard Bel, "take it tonight."

The charms book fell off James' lap as he scrambled to gather his things, stuffing them into his bag in a haphazard fashion. They were going to steal a book from the restricted section! A book about Death Eaters, and they were going to take it tonight. James left the library at a sprint, taking the stairs two at a time, leaping over the vanishing step on the moving staircases on his way down to the Great Hall.

James swung around the wooden door and down the length of the second Gryffindor table, until he saw Teddy and Victoire just beginning to eat lunch. James' bag sailed onto the bench and he slid down after it breathing hard. "You'll…never guess…what I just heard…in the library," he panted.

Teddy and Victoire looked at him like he was insane. Victoire seized a glass of pumpkin juice from the table and thrust it at James. "Here," she said, looking confused.

"Thanks," gasped James. He gulped down the juice as his friends watched impatiently.

"Never mind about the library, it can't be better than what I saw coming back from Divination," Teddy blurted excitedly. "The Head's office was ransacked, papers and broken glass on the stairs and spilling out into the hallway. Apparently McGonagall was out, and no one noticed until class let out for lunch. You should have seen her. I thought she was going to blast whoever did it to smithereens!"

"Who did it? Why did they break in? Did they take anything?" exclaimed James, forgetting for the moment about what he had overheard in the library.

"No one knows," said Victoire. "As soon as teachers came out to see what the commotion was, we were all rushed from the hallway. By the time McGonagall got there they had almost cleared hallway. But by the looks of the destruction in the corridor, the office must have been an absolute wreck! They might never figure out what was taken! Everyone was in class, no one saw anything."

A vision seen from the Charms window of a figure rushing across the quad suddenly burst into James's mind. "Not everyone was in class today. I saw Bel on the quad today. She must have skived off whatever class she was supposed to be taking. Then just before I came here she got into this huge fight with Pince. She wanted to get a book from the restricted section for Toran's essay, but Pince reckoned that she was just researching the Dark Arts. I was on the window seat—you know the one where you can sort of hear what they're saying"

At this Teddy and Victoire exchanged an exasperated look. Although they agreed that Bel was not completely on the level, they thought that the lengths James had been going lately to prove this were just a bit loony. _Here we go again,_ thought Teddy.

James plowed on, choosing to ignore the silent exchange. "And I heard them talking about taking it tonight! We've got to follow them under the invisibility cloak and see what they take. Especially after the Head's Office! It had to be Bel! Imagine what they could do with some of the stuff in there!" James surveyed his two friends, intent on gauging their reactions.

They had both stopped eating, but Victoire looked decidedly less pleased than Teddy. Victoire gave James a skeptical look, "What exactly _did_ you hear, James?"

Giving the conversation a quick mental rundown, James found a depressing lack of details to help his case, so he decided on evasion. "I don't remember _exactly_ what they said, but she was definitely going on about how they were taking something tonight. We have to be there!" James turned to Teddy. His god-brother was usually much easier to convince.

Teddy had been mulling the conversation over in his mind, and came to a quick decision. "Well…even if it does turn out to be nothing, it is an excuse to try out the invisibility cloak. And if they are actually planning to take a book, they're usually in the restricted section for a reason, aren't they? James, didn't your father tell us one time about one with a screaming bloke stuck in it? Besides—think about it—if we actually caught the people who managed to break into the Head's office, we'd be legends!"

Victoire was looking less happy by the second as she became outnumbered. "Oh, come off it," she said crossly, "Do you two idiots actually believe a first year managed to break into McGonagall's office? It's like the most heavily guarded room in the entire castle. It probably has booby traps and, you know, other things!" The looks on the boys' faces told her she was getting nowhere, and she let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, but if the screaming book tries to eat us, I'm going to make sure it gets you two first!"

The rest of the day went by in a blur, at least until they were waiting in the common room for everyone else to go to bed. Two fifth years seemed determined to play exploding snap until dawn, but they finally packed it in around two. James tugged the cloak out from under the chair, where it had been hiding inside his book bag. "Come on, come on, come on!" he hissed, hurrying to cover all three of them—a cramped and difficult job.

"Ouch, those are my toes, you dolt!" whispered Victoire as they clambered out the portrait hole, past the sleeping fat lady. They made fairly good time to the library—stopping only once to let Filch's cat, Mrs. Huxley, go past—but James was still anxious. Bel could have been there and gone a hundred times before they even made it to the library. His plan of conducting a stake-out for the entire night was ruined.

Just as they came to the entrance, they were bowled over by three running figures, dressed all in black, who barreled past them. The three cloaked figures must not have noticed the extra obstacle in their path as they rushed out of the doors, because they continued pelting down the hallway. James, Teddy, and Victoire landed on the floor in a tangled heap, thoroughly immobilized by the folds of shimmering silk. "That must have been them. We missed her!" moaned James, no longer bothering to confine his voice to a whisper. He struggled to his feet, dragging the other two with him, and peered forlornly down the corridor.

"Since we've come this far, we might as well check to see if they took anything," said Victoire.

They ventured into the darkened library, the bookshelves looming over them and casting creepy shadows in the faint moonlight. The bronze Restricted Section plaque gleamed faintly above the gate, which creaked enough to make them wince as Teddy lifted the latch and pushed open the door. James lit his wand as they walked along the first shelf and then the next. After several minutes of silence, and in the comforting light of their wands, the group felt secure enough to slip out from under the invisibility cloak and walk along separate shelves looking for gaps.

"The quicker we find out what they took," began James, stuffing the cloak back into his bag. He continued along the shelves, looking for gaps for several minutes—the restricted section was much larger than he had ever imagined—it felt like it would take forever to search the entire thing. Then he heard a short scream and a muffled thump. James' heart raced in his chest as he ran toward the source of the noise, but he was not the first to arrive.

As he rounded another shelf, he saw Teddy pulling Victoire up off the floor asking, "Are you okay?"

Victoire was looking pasty and even more frightened than James felt, but she replied shakily, "I'm fine, I just tripped in the dark. I wasn't looking where I was going."

His heart finally returning to a normal pace, he noticed the mess on the floor, and his blood froze solid. Books were strewn everywhere, Victoire must have knocked them off when she fell. James felt sick, some of the pages were ripped, and Pince was going to mount a manhunt.

Teddy was also surveying the damage unhappily. "Geez Vic, I know its dark, but you're not usually this clumsy. We have to get out of here!"

Victoire stared at the pile on the floor, "No, this _is_ what I tripped on. And don't call me that!" She claimed to her feet, and her eyes suddenly widened at something behind James's head.

"Well, well, well," said Jacob as he clamped his hand on the collar of Teddy's robes. "Potter, Lupin, and Weasley. Why am I not surprised to find you here? And what a mess you've made. I knew there were troublemakers in here after the disruption earlier. I'm sure that Filch would just love to make your acquaintance." Jacob dragged Teddy off still happily berating them.

James and Victoire followed, and James nearly had a heart attack. _The invisibility cloak is still in my bag. If Filch sees it we're all dead!_ With a heavy heart he pulled the bag off and kicked it under one of the chairs on the way out of the library. _With any luck I can come back for it tomorrow before anyone takes it, but anything is better than letting Filch have it._

The Head Boy led them down several staircases into a room just above the dungeons that they had never seen before. It was filled with filing cabinets. One drawer was marked _Fred and George Weasley_. With a broad grin, Jacob said, "Wait here," before disappearing. Victoire slid down the wall to sit on the floor, and James and Teddy only had a few seconds to eye another drawer marked _Confiscated and Highly Dangerous,_ when Mrs. Huxley bounded into the room, and both boys flinched back. They had heard stories of another cat from a generation ago, and this one appeared to be identical, down to the mangey fur and lamp eyes. Filch would not be far behind.

Indeed, soon the sounds of a jovial conversation could be heard coming closer down the corridor. The raspy tones of Filch could be heard, "Ohh I just knew that Potter would land in my hands soon. I wish I could have hung his father by the thumbs, but perhaps McGonagall will let me chain Potter up for a few weeks to learn his lesson…"

James suppressed a shudder as Filch limped into the office. He was reasonably certain that McGonagall would not allow chains. Probably.

Filch showed his nasty teeth as he said, "Out of bounds after midnight, destruction of school property…that's worth three detentions. You will spend every night for the rest of this week polishing every piece in the trophy room…yes I've got you this time. And two hundred points from Gryffindor." He turned to a little stack of cards on his desk, and filled out three.

James noticed with a sinking feeling that one of the cards was deposited into a drawer marked _Potters_. This was the last straw for James. "Hey! Jacob was out of bounds too! Why isn't he getting punished?" He shot a glare at the older boy, who did not seem the least concerned. In fact, his smile appeared to become even more smug.

"Yes, yes, five points from Slytherin for being out of bounds. One hundred points to Slytherin for catching these three," said Filch nastily.

"That's not fair!" spluttered James. As Jacob was dragging him backwards out of the office.

"Better be careful boy!" barked Filch, "I know you were somehow involved in breaking into the Headmistress's office. Whenever something goes wrong around here, it always has something to do with you Potters. I just can't prove it yet. But when I do, the Headmistress will just have to expel all of you!"

 _This day just keeps getting better and better,_ thought James. _Blamed twice for things I didn't do, and Bel gets away without a scratch._

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**


	8. The Truth

The Truth

James was in a cross mood as he left the common room. He was tired of Bel, her lackeys, and all the trouble they had been causing him. His mind was constantly filled with meandering thoughts about what she had wanted to steal and her impending plans. He was so sick of them, the mere thought disgusted him. James rarely went half an hour without jabbering on about something suspicious Bel did or a look Scorpius had sent him from across the dining hall. Teddy and Victoire would always nod off during this part, passing notes under the table while James vehemently ranted on, completely oblivious to his friends' lack of interest. While they supported James in the notion that Bel was not quite right, his myriad of fervent rants had become mildly obsessive. In James's mind, almost anything beyond perfectly normal could manage to be accredited to Bel through an intricate web that was thoroughly impossible to retrace unless you were James himself.

The only thing that distracted him from his repulsively repetitive declarations of Bel's every wrong-doing was waiting for a letter back from his father. It seemed as if every single person knew who he was, or at least his father, except him! At first, it had been annoying but now James was downright infuriated. He couldn't act like he knew without making a fool out of himself and he couldn't ask anyone without sounding like a complete numbskull. Before every meal, he went straight to the Owlery to search for either Eleusis or Millicent, neither of whom had returned yet.

He found that he had to spend immense amounts of time roaming the castle or in the library to take his mind off the impending knowledge. The day after the library break-in, he had come back for his bag that contained the cloak and observed that Pince had put many new precautions on the library to prevent burglars. It seemed nearly impossible that anyone could steal anything from the library ever again.

James was just a few steps from the common room, on his way to detention when he caught up with Teddy and Victoire. They were accompanied by a tall second year named Liam Pepin. Liam was lean and muscular, light eyes and short blonde hair. He seemed to be vainly attempting to court Victoire. He had started this process towards the beginning of the year, among many others who admired Victoire's beauty and kind heart. James and Teddy referred to it as _"Torie's String of Star-Crossed Lovers,"_ but, they found Liam to be incredibly more annoying and persistent than any of the others. As James walked forward, he caught Liam's foot, causing him to trip over his robes. Victoire sent him a look of relief before calling out to Liam, "Sorry Liam, we really must be going now!"

"You know Vicky, you're quite picky with all the lads," Teddy joked.

"Oh, shut up, and don't call me that!" Victoire fumed.

"What? You don't like what I call you, Picky Vicky?" Teddy roared with laughter, changing his features to mirror an enraged Victoire.

"Fine, Edward," she hissed.

Teddy suddenly became serious, "Alright, alright, I'm done, just don't say that again."

"What, you don't like what I call you, Edward?" Victoire said in a mocking tone.

"Okay, I get it, I'm sorry, just don't say it again!" Teddy pleaded.

James smirked at his friends, "Both of you, calm down. You lovebirds better start getting along before Filch skins us all for talking."

At this remark, both of them turned red and looked down at the stone floors. Once they reached Filch's office, they saw he was inside seeming to be napping with Mrs. Huxley's tail swatting his face. Teddy knocked on the door, receiving no reaction from a snoring Filch and a glare from Mrs. Huxley. Eventually, the three entered the office, dropping a stack of books on the desk to wake a sleeping Filch. He jolted upward in response, sending Mrs. Huxley to the ground with a growl of protest.

"So you three showed up, eh? First thing, wouldn't want you to have too much fun, you'll be split up. Potter, you'll be in the kitchens, dishes only." Filch grinned, "Weasley, to the first floor girls' lavatory. Have a chat with your dear friend Myrtle."

Victoire paled. Myrtle had always been jealous of her and had never been very kind.

"Lupin… hmm… where to put you? I say the trophy room. I better see every bloody trophy sparkling when you're finished."

"How long will that be, exactly?" Victoire asked.

"You're done when I say you're done, girl." Filch shooed them with one hand, Mrs. Huxley occupying the other, "Get on now, move briskly. Don't waste time or it'll be fifteen more points from Gryffindor! Each!"

James scurried down the staircase to the basement, near where the map had told him the kitchens were located. He knew he was in the right hall but he did not have the map with him and simply could not figure out where the kitchen entrance was located. James retraced the both sides of the hallway, but the only thing he found near the right location was a painting of a fruit bowl. _"You have to tickle the pear."_ James swore he heard a voice. However when he looked around, not a soul was present. Just then, James felt a tug on his trousers. He looked down to see a house elf with concerned brown eyes and drooping ears. He assumed it was a girl since it appeared to have feminine features, but you couldn't really tell.

"If you're looking to get into the kitchens, you have to tickle the pear," she repeated.

James nodded, a bit skeptically, but he did as he was told. He reached up to the portrait of the fruit and tickled the pear. It jumped around excitedly, giggling and James smiled at the elf. Then, the pear transformed into a green doorknob. James looked back to the elf, who gestured towards the handle. James turned it cautiously and stepped inside the hallway. The elf walked in front of him, motioning with her hand.

"I'm Winky. You can follow me." she bowed.

James, slightly confused since the only house-elf he had ever met, Kreature, did not bow, bowed in response, making Winky giggle, "I'm James, James Potter."

James stuck out his hand to Winky whose eyes grew as wide as saucers. Her hands shook as she held on to his own and she bowed again, the joy spreading all the way to her ears. A part of James was afraid she would explode.

"W-Would you b-b-be knowing of M-Mr. Harry Potter?" Winky whispered.

"Actually, he's my dad," James explained.

Upon hearing this, Winky feinted, then stood up immediately. The same smile was on her face when she then started hopping about the passage, squealing as she did so. She next grabbed James's hand and started running, still squealing and grinning madly. They then entered the main kitchen, a wonderland of stoves, pots, pans, and every other appliance imaginable. Many elves were working feverishly throughout the sizable room. By the time they arrived, James was still confused about the power of the Potter name and Winky was _still_ psychotically excited.

"THERE'S A POTTER IN THE KITCHENS! THERE'S A POTTER IN THE KITCHENS!" Winky yelled.

All at once, dozens of house elves turned to James. They all seemed to be sizing him up and it looked to them that he was, in fact, a Potter. Before he could blink, he was being offered at least ten different dishes and refreshments. His mouth watered and he yearned to accept but then he remembered what he was there to do.

"I would love to eat all this food. It looks, erm, delicious! It looks delicious but I'm actually here for detention, I'm here to clean dishes." James murmured.

As if they had not heard him, he was promptly forced into a stool where a platter of brisket, treacle tart and a glass of pumpkin juice were all placed in front of him.

"Mr. Harry Potter was a great friend to us house elves. Mr. Potter's son…"

"It's James," he stated.

"Mr. James Potter will not work in these kitchens. Mr. Potter shall have what he likes, everything he likes! I heard that Mr. James Potter was coming this year but Weese could not believe it! It is an honor to serve you Mr. Potter, Weese is forever at your service, Mr. James Potter." a cook named Weese rambled.

"You all are quite kind but that's not necessary, and you can just call me James," he insisted.

"Of course, Mr. James, but we must not let you work. Us will not let you work in this kitchen!" a different elf repeated.

After much protest, James decided it would be easier to just sit and eat then fight the very determined kitchen staff. They asked many questions about his father and his Aunt Hermione, though they didn't seem to like her or a certain "S.P.E.W" very much. The elves were positively thrilled at the thought of two more Potters joining in coming years and it seemed that like Winky, they were on the brink of becoming explosive. By the time Filch released him, it was nearing two in the morning and he had nearly fallen asleep. He was so full and tired from chatting with the inquisitive elves. When he turned to leave, every single elf bowed to him.

"Goodbye, Mr. James Potter! James is welcome in the kitchens anytime he likes," Weese shouted.

James bowed back to the elves, smiling broadly. "Thank you for having me. I had a delightful time."

As he turned to leave he could hear them all whispering. " _Mr James Potter looks much his father." "Mr. James is so polite." "I hope James Potter returns!" "Mr. James Potter bows to us! TO US!"_ The elves, though relentless, were quite the entertaining way to spend a detention. Once he reached the common room, he did not see Teddy or Victoire. James assumed that they were already up in their rooms and he followed in suit. He slept as soon as his head touched his pillow.

Bel, Cat and Scorpius were early on their way potions the next morning. After their failed attempt to snatch the book, they had decided to lay low for a while. This meant they were more careful about the frequency and location of their hushed conversations, so, the triad drew little attention to themselves and focused more on their studies, despite Cat's most ardent protests.

"If I spend one more evening with my head jammed in some book - especially for studying - I swear I will burn every damned piece of parchment in Hogwarts!" Cat threatened.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "I don't think you can go one morning without threatening something."

Cat shrugged, grinning to herself smugly. Once the students walked into the potions classroom, they saw Thorne had just barely legibly scribbled the steps to the Forgetfulness Potion on the board. As Bel took her seat behind a large cauldron, she began writing down the steps and ingredients in her own notebook. Once she was done, she started on the potion, ignoring Thorne's mundane lecturing.

"Ms. Black, since you seem so interested in constructing your potion and so bored with the safety precautions, please do tell me - what you are missing from that potion?" Thorne questioned. Bel's cheeks reddened as she scanned the board quickly before finding the missing ingredient. Bel was fair at potions and found the ingredient quickly.

"Lethe River Water," Bel chirped.

"That's correct, and since you're so astute, why don't you fetch it from the store-cupboard, Ms. Black?" Thorne asked resentfully.

Bel nodded and stood quietly, bowing her head. She was not doing so well with her plan to blend in and was near abandoning it. _No one would expect a first year to break into the restricted section anyway,_ she thought. All the secrecy was quickly growing annoying to her. _Also, they found Potter and his friends in there! Everyone probably thinks it was him._ She wondered why James had been there that night but couldn't come up with a good reason, other than he seemed to always show up places. On her way to the store-cupboard, she saw Jacob Zagyva strolling by. He sent Bel a charming smile, having formed a certain fondness for her, apparently enough to forego turning them in to Filch.

"Hello, Ms. Black," the Head Boy waved.

Bel waved back, faking a grin before continuing on her way to the stores. Once she arrived, she opened the huge cabinetry in search of the vials of Lethe River Water. She looked around the usually well-organized stores and saw they were in disarray. The stores were usually thoroughly well stocked and Thorne had them organized quite methodically. After finally finding the right bottle, she realized the stores were not just sloppily organized, they were also missing many flasks and ingredients. Upon this realization, Bel clutched the bottle tightly and ran back to the classroom.

"Ah, Ms. Black, how pleasant of you to return to us," Thorne remarked.

"My apologies for the wait Professor," Bel spoke, "but Sir, I think someone broke into the stores! The cabinets were quite disheveled and many vials seemed to be missing."

Thorne nodded to Bel, seeming alarmed, "Alright, everyone continue working. I'll be back shortly."

James thought this was all too coincidental. First, she was in the library looking to take a book, now she was in the store-cupboard when ingredients go missing. It had to be connected!

James was discouraged as he left the Owlery that day. It seemed that his owl was still missing. _Maybe Dad's decided not to tell me! Maybe he wants to keep me in the dark forever,_ James feared. He pushed the thought from his mind as he made his way to the Great Hall. Once there, he took a seat next to Teddy and Victoire in the hall. He explained everything that had happened the night before with the house elves and what had happened that morning with Bel.

"It must have been Bel! She was obviously trying to cover her tracks when she told Thorne. Don't you guys think it's a little too close together?" James reasoned. Victoire looked to Teddy and sighed, "As much as I hate to indulge you, I think you have a case. It is pretty suspicious that she was in the library _and_ at the stores.

"Okay, so I have an idea," James whispered. "I've seen Bel, Scorpius and Cat toting around a lot of books about the Second Wizarding War and a lot of dark wizards for a couple weeks. I'm thinking we go late tonight, check out some of the same books and see what they tell us."

Teddy nodded, "sounds good to me. Did you get a letter back from your Dad yet?"

James shook his head, "No I think he's ignoring it, or at least putting it off. Why do you ask?"

"Well, last night while I was in the trophy room, I noticed how many were your dad's and your grandfather's… mostly Quidditch but also for service to the school. What really got me was that your Dad won the Triwizard Tournament! Did you know that?"

James scowled, "Well, at this point I'm surprised that I know anything about him at all. Wait, isn't that only for seventh years? He wasn't even here in his seventh year because of the war. How could he have even been in it?"

Teddy shrugged, "No clue. Another one that showed up a decent amount was Tom Riddle, he was a Head Boy and had a Medal for Magical Merit, all that rubbish. The bloke's name sounded familiar."

"I've heard it before, too. We can search for it when we go to the library," Victoire added.

"So Torie, what happened with Myrtle?" Teddy chuckled.

Victoire visibly paled, "Oh, it was awful! She spent the whole night splashing water on the floor, telling me to clean it and when I did, she started crying about being ugly. Then, I would calm her down for about five minutes, she'd talk about Uncle Harry, and then the whole process started again. The girl's absolutely dreadful. No wonder no one ever visits her."

Bel tucked her thick black hair behind her ears as she studied diligently. She found that this act made her feel less distracted, more calm even. She poured over notes for an upcoming Transfiguration evaluation where she would be transforming a small object into at least one bird using the Avifors Spell. She and Scorpius had been attempting the spell for several days and making extremely slow progress, if any. After at least fifty tries that night, Bel collapsed onto the green carpeting by Scorpius's feet, letting out a low growl.

Cat came and stood over her. "I thought I was the only animal here."

Bel sighed, "I just can't manage to make one blasted quill turn into a bird."

Cat rolled her eyes. "Bel, it's really not that difficult if you just follow the formula."

Scorpius scoffed, "If it's so easy, Kitten, then why don't you give it a go?"

With that, Cat recited the incantation flawlessly, moving her wand in a swift, sideways figure eight. A blue light flashed from her wand and the quill arose, forming a small flock of birds that flew around the Slytherin common room. After a quick flight, the birds melded together and the quill landed perfectly onto the table. An exhausted Scorpius looked to Cat in astonishment. For the skills she lacked in Astronomy, she made up for in her penchant for Transfiguration.

"Alright, I'm exhausted. I can't do this anymore," Scorpius humphed before saying his goodbyes and heading upstairs for the night.

James, Teddy and Victoire had ran straight to the library from dinner. James was huddled under a thick stack of books that he had heard Bel collecting. Once he had found a few of the titles, he distributed them among the three. Immediately, they sat down and got cracking. James himself was switching between _The War of the Century_ and _Modern Dangers of the Dark Arts_. After what felt like hours of searching, they were no closer to uncovering Bel's plan.

"There's not a bloody thing here," Victoire grumbled.

James scowled. "Whatever she's planning, the books don't give any of it away. There all about the dark arts and what happened during them, not about _how_ anything bloody happened."

"Checking them out won't do any good, we have no clue where to begin," Teddy reasoned.

James nodded, "You're right, but _Modern Dangers of the Dark Arts_ did mention that Riddle bloke. I think he was involved in The War."

Bel spent the morning beside Cat, packing for their Christmas trip home. They had both decided to leave all their books at school, which made for a much lighter load. The first years' professors had decided to be kind and had given a minuscule amount of homework over the break. Bel was quite grateful, _this mean that I can spend as much time as possible doing my own research!_ She schemed many plans as she packed, barely noticing Snowball's many attempts to be packed away in her suitcase.

"I think I just may be able to get away with burning all my skirts when I get home! Then, they'll have to let me wear something else when I get back… at least for a few days." Cat speculated, shoving all her skirts unceremoniously into her trunk.

Bel rolled her eyes as she packed away her own possessions, "Kitten, this burning project of yours worries me."

Cat giggled in response as the pair made their way down to the Great Hall. By this time, the girls were used to the ever-changing staircases and leaped over the missing steps with ease. They had made a game of it as they made their way to the hall each morning, knowing that Scorpius was already there. He was not an early riser by choice but the food always made him seem to appear.

When they had almost reached their destination, the duo saw James retreating from the Owlery, letter clutched in hand. He seemed very entranced by it, not even bothering to look up as he tore it's seal. As a result, he barreled into them, causing all three to tumble onto the stone floor.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going, Potter!" Cat shouted.

"Sorry," he responded, already on his feet.

"Not even a famous scowl today? Not even an evil eye my way?" Bel grimaced.

James waved them off, "Not today! My apologies!"

Both girls chuckled as they watched James continue to stumble down the hall.

"Would you look at that," Cat mused, "Potter's even in a good mood."

"He must have been hit with a sudden wave of Christmas spirit!" Bel assumed.

"More like a tsumani, since you know, the unpleasant little sap hates our guts and all," Cat smirked.

"Well then," Bel cheered as she reached the table, "To the power of Christmas spirit!"

She clicked glasses with Cat and Scorpius who muttered, "To the p'wur ofth Chrithmus 'pirit!" through his mouthful of sausage.

James had been dying to read the letter all day. He carried it in his trouser pockets, taking it out and putting it back a hundred times over. He had tried to read it in three different classes but was too focused on school work and gave up entirely. He knew he would want time to react to whatever answers the letter finally gave him. So, after dinner, he had promptly left Victoire and Teddy at the table and sprinted back to the Common Room faster than ever before in his life. He tipped his head to the Fat Lady and in his urgency, just barely managed to sputter out the password. Finally, he reached the common room and settled down on a couch in the corner of the room, a location reclusive enough to make him feel as if no one was looking over is shoulder as he finally read the page.

Dear James,

I am regretful that this letter took so long to get back to you, for it is quite difficult to find the right words to write something of this depth. I would also like to apologize for the amount of time you have been kept in the dark. I should have told you as soon as you arrived there, or even before you left, and now it is almost Christmas! I guess the time has escaped me. I want you to know that I never lied to you about anything that happened. I just did not tell you the full truth because I did not think you were old enough or mature enough to hold such a large legacy on your shoulders. Until I was eleven Albus Dumbledore, for whom your brother is named, withheld this information from me so that I myself grew up in the most normal way possible under the circumstances. As you know, I grew up raised by muggles and was not even aware that I was a wizard until my eleventh birthday. Now that you are of the age when I learned the truth, I will bestow it upon you. However, this will be a summary and I will complete my tale at length and answer any questions you have when you return home this Christmas.

When I was born, our world was in the midst of the First Wizarding War. It was prophesied that the Dark Lord would have to take my own life to continue his. My parents, James and Lily, were some of the leading heroes bravely battling Lord Voldemort. When I was barely more than an infant, Voldemort stormed our house and both my parents lost their lives to him in attempts to keep me safe. When he in turn tried to kill me, I was protected by the utmost power of my mother's love, a powerful magic which I still find hard to understand. Although the power of her love saved my life, it left me with a lightning-shaped scar, and the Dark Lord was not seen again for over a decade. My surviving the Dark Lord's curse was unheard of, especially because I was a defenseless child and so Igained the title of "The Chosen One" and also "The Boy Who Lived." Over the course of my time at Hogwarts, even in assumed death, Lord Voldemort was still the most feared wizard of all time. During my first year of the school, he returned, sharing the body of one of my professors in hopes of finding the sorcerer's stone and rising to power once again. I defeated him at the end of my first year, with the help of your Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. In the next few years, he eventually assumed a new body with the goals to take over once again and destroy yours truly. Over my six years at the school, he attempted to kill me about once a year and how I survived is still a mystery to me. However, during what would have been my final year at Hogwarts, there was a battle between Voldemort and his Death Eaters and myself accompanied by many Hogwarts students and The Order of the Phoenix (an organization I will later explain) . This is now know as the Battle of Hogwarts, which I ended by killing Lord Voldemort using the twin cores of our wands and the backlash of his own spell. My actions - though I would not have defeated him without the years of assistance from numerous others - ended the Second Wizarding War, and in turn, all these things earned me the title and status that other people seem to enjoy pointing out. I encourage you not to be wrapped idea or to get a big head. I have raised you to understand that being a part of this family does not make you entitled. On a kinder note, I apologize again for my discretion and promise to explain at length when you return.

With Love,

Dad

P.S. If I forget to tell you later, never use the name Tom Riddle in front of your mother.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**


	9. Two Christmases

Two Christmases

Mercifully, just enough students decided to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas that there was room to breathe on the Express. Overall, returning to the Manor from Hogwarts was a much better trip than their original journey to school, and Bel, Cat, and Scorpius were even able to snag their own compartment. They piled into the compartment, slid over to the window, and piled their trunks onto the empty seats in an attempt to discourage compartment-crashers.

For a few minutes they spoke about Christmas at home, discussing the odds of Scorpius getting a new broom in anticipation of House try-outs next year (high), and the odds of Cat's parents actually showing up this year (extremely low—last year they had actually sent her a _skirt_ , which was currently being used to line Snowball's bed). Soon enough the clamor of students moving through the train settled down as they found their own compartments, and the lurch that signaled the beginning of their journey home ran through the carriages.

When they were sure that all of the students on the train had found compartments, and their privacy was ensured, Cat brought out the rolls of parchment containing their research so far. The plan was to name drop over break, and see if any of the names brought reactions from the adults. It would also help them to make sense of any conversations they just happened to overhear. They spread the rolls over their knees as they huddled by the window, still whispering even though they were alone. Even without _An Account of the Second Wizarding War: The Movements and Atrocities of Death Eaters,_ they had still made some progress since the disastrous night in the library when they had just avoided being caught by Jacob, before they had even reached the Restricted Section. Their notes were mostly in Cat's somewhat messy handwriting, and took up two and a half rolls of slightly crumpled parchment.

 **Death Eaters** _and wives_

 **Narcissa Black** **no disappearance** _(and a stupid idea)_

 **Bellatrix Lestrange - 6 months in 1997-98**

 **Alecto Carrow - 3 months in mid 1997** Please no!

 **Acamar Avery** **\- January 1998** Not long enough

 **Mirach Dolohov**

 **Bunda Gibbon**

 **Sheratan Jugson - February-April 1998** I think Im older than that

 **Aludra Selwyn**  
 **Nashira Rowle - 3 months 1997-98**

 **Navi Travers** **\- October 1997**

 **Minkar Macnair - Never left the house**

 **Nihal Rookwood**

 **Vega Rosier** **Too old**

 **Lesath Mulciber - December 1997**

 **Alcyone Nott - January - March 1997** _Probably too early_

 **Atria Pyrites**

 **Unanswered Questions**

 **Why bother changing from one pair of Death Eaters to another?** _Did you see what some of these people did? At least Miranda and Abroxos were fairly tame._ My parents probably were in the section called Unspeakable Atrocities…

 **Why pick parents that were called Black? They could have just changed Bel's name.** To make it less confusing? _The entire thing is confusing enough as it is._

 **Why was she raised with us in Malfoy Manor?**

 **Why are all the adults ALWAYS interested in Bel?**

 **Shortlist**

 **Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange**

 **Alecto Carrow and someone** _probably Amycus_ NO. Just no.

 **Sheraton and Acamir Jugson**

 **Nashira and Thorfinn Rowle**

 **Minkar and Alshain Macnair**

 **Alcyone and Seginus Nott**

 **Lesath and Avior Mulciber**

The worn-out argument ran in circles for most of an hour, each supporting their personal theory. Of course, none of these had changed for at least a month, so no progress was made. Scorpius supported the Alecto Carrow theory, as he knew that Bel hated it.

"I still think that the Lestranges are the best bet," declared Cat. "It would explain everything! Bellatrix was born a Black. Narcissa is her sister, so that's why you were taken to the Manor. They were so horrible that everyone would hate their daughter." She sat back on the bench looking smug.

"It explains everything but why they wouldn't tell Bel. I mean, that would make my Grandparents her actual Aunt and Uncle, and there's no reason not to tell _her_ ," Scorpius said scornfully. "She would have just been warned not to tell anyone. Besides, if the goal was to keep it a secret, why use her mother's actual maiden name? There would also be no point in holding her back two years. And why is every single adult interested in her? It's just weird."

Bel did not like either of these arguments. The thought of being related to the Carrows was disgusting, after hearing the stories that still floated around the school a decade after they had died. Her personal theory was that whoever her parents were, they had not found them on this list. None of the candidates explained everything, and Uncle Lucius never did anything without a reason, even if you didn't figure out what it was until much later. However, for the sake of argument she supported Minkar and Alshain Macnair. Bel stared blankly at the list as Cat and Scorpius ran through their arguments for the thousandth time. She was fairly sure that they were using the exact same words they had yesterday in the library. "We are not going to get anywhere without more information. We should be about due for another meeting, and when all of the Death Eaters have locked themselves in the dining room, we are actually going to try Scorpius's plan from last year."

Cat looked skeptical. "You don't mean the one where we break into Uncle Lucius's office and ransack it?" Seeing the look on Bel's face she sighed. "Of course you do. In case you hit your head and can't remember, we tried that last year! We couldn't get in then, so what makes you think that we will be able to get in now? Besides, we almost got caught, and Uncle Lucius will kill us!"

" _Last year_ we weren't in Hogwarts, this year we are. We happened to learn a useful little spell this year. One that _unlocks doors,_ " retorted Bel smugly.

"Well Bel, I don't know if anyone's told you, but the adults, they put this thing called the Trace on us. It is how they enforce the "no magic outside of school rule". Breaking into the study is not worth getting expelled!" said Scorpius sarcastically.

Bel's grin widened. "While all that is _technically_ true, there are some aspects of the Trace that they don't exactly advertise. When we were spending all that time in the library, I spent a couple of days researching the Trace, trying to find out how Uncle Lucius prevented me from getting one, and then put it on me before I went to Hogwarts. I still don't know how he did it, but I did find out how the Trace works. There are some aspects of it that aren't common knowledge, mainly that the Trace doesn't detect magic done _by_ an underage witch, but magic done _around_ the witch. That means that if your parents are wizards the Ministry must rely on them to enforce the rules. As all the adults will be _otherwise occupied_ , they won't notice a little larcenous underage sorcery."

Bel's grin spread across the compartment, and Cat pulled out a new roll of parchment.

When the Express pulled into Platform 9 3/4, Bel was surprised to see only Uncle Draco waiting for them. He dodged a barrage of questions from his charges as he ushered them into the Mercedes. Draco must have had instructions not to give anything away.

When Bel, Cat, and Scorpius arrived back at the Manor, they were as much in the dark as when they first stepped off the Hogwarts Express. They did not pay any special attention to the lavish Christmas decorations that bedecked the Manor, as they had seen them every year for as long as they could remember. It was quickly apparent why there had been such a disappointing reception at the platform—the Death Eaters were already there. Bel shot a glance at Scorpius, _If we're going to actually go through with this, we're going to have to do it fast._ It was clear that he was thinking exactly the same thing.

Dinner that night was the usual sort of torture, but it was made even worse by the fact that Bel knew that she was going to have to break into the study _tonight_ , even as she awkwardly answered the probing questions. Even Cat's parents were there, but they were sitting by Cat at one of the smaller tables. Bel felt a twinge of jealousy twist in her stomach, and it would have been impossible to say whether it was for Cat's safe position far from the center of attention in the dark recesses of the room, or the mere fact that she had parents—Cat knew where she belonged.

At long last, Aunt Astoria took Bel, Cat, and Scorpius upstairs before going to her own bedroom. As soon as she left the wing, they gathered in Bel's room. Aunt Astoria would be the only adult in the house not in the meeting, but none of them spared a thought that she would catch them. They had learned long ago that she always fell asleep quickly and incredibly deeply.

The tense waiting lasted only perhaps twenty minutes, enough time to be sure Aunt Astoria was asleep, before Bel crept out of her room, closely followed by Cat and Scorpius. The house was completely quiet, a silence disturbed only once in their journey when they had to pause for several heart testing seconds as Saeth carried a try of dessert into the dining room. Uncle Lucius's study was in the opposite wing of the house from their bedrooms, on the second floor beside the adult rooms. They had a gossamer-thin cover story. It consisted of Scorpius, a couple of Puking Pastilles, and stumbling through the wrong door in the dark. This would necessitate an adult believing that the study door was unlocked, but it was something.

The door to Uncle Lucius's was, of course, locked. Bel had volunteered to be the one to use the magic, as it had been her idea in the first place. She pulled out her wand from her back pocket, and pointed it at the lock. " _Alohamora,_ " she whispered. They all jumped a little when the lock gave a little click, and the door swung slightly inward.

"I really didn't think that would work," squeaked Cat.

Scorpius pushed the door open wider, sketched a dramatic bow, and ushered Bel inside. "Answers await!" he whispered with a grin.

He watched at the two girls tentatively stepped over the threshold. He could count on one hand the number of times he had been in this room, and Scorpius doubted whether either of the girls had been in here any more frequently.

The decor was dark, with walnut paneling and flooring, and a large mahogany desk in the center of the room. Even though Cat had sworn up and down that she had once gotten a good look at the desk, and it had no drawers, only open shelving for supplies, they still went to take a look at it. Sure enough there were no places to store paper, only neat stacks of current correspondence on the top. "I told you, it's not a desk, more a glorified table," hissed Cat.

Scorpius, who had been sure of drawers, ducked under the desk, but failed to find any secret compartments. He crawled back out, and looked dismally at the rows of filing cabinets lining the back wall. "We better hope that there is some sort of filing system, or we'll never find anything," growled Scorpius, looking more than a little annoyed at the failure of his plan. He had been adamant that his Grandfather would keep anything really important within easy reach. He glanced at the clock on the mantle over the fireplace, "We should be out of here in about an hour, these things normally break up just after midnight."

There were ten filing cabinets, and they each stretched farther than any of them could reach. Cat opened the very bottom left drawer, and extracted a large file. It was labeled 1500s. She smiled, threw it back, and reached for the next file. 1600s. "These are organized by date!" she whisper-screamed. "Try to find 1997, and 1998!"

They moved along the back row, opening and closing drawers. As the dates progressed, the files became thicker and more complex. A little over halfway along the wall, they came to a drawer that contained five folders from 1997, and four from 1998. The folders were unceremoniously dumped on the desk, and all three of them began to paw through the records. It was almost immediately apparent that it was not the expected goldmine. "These are all about businesses!" Bel said dejectedly. "Any of you have something useful?"

"Nope," replied Cat her eyes bulging. "Not exactly what we were in here for but look at them! Some of them have seven figures, and there are pages and pages of parchment! What could Uncle Lucius possibly be doing?"

"I don't really want to know," replied Scorpius, as he replaced the papers he had been looking at, and carefully put the files back in their original places. "Let's look in the rest of these," he said, opening the next drawer.

Cat had become distracted by some of the papers uncovered by the removal of the files from Lucius's desk. "Look at this! Some idiot thinks he found the missing pages from the Hogwarts copy of The Book of Necromancy, and he thinks he can make the spell work! I wonder if he believes in Crumple-Horned Snorkack too…His name, Jakob Grindelwald, sounds familiar though. Anyone know who he is?"

Scorpius stifled a snicker in reply, and continued to search the cabinets. The dates continued for another row, eventually ending in the present. To Bel's surprise the labels jumped back in time, this time all the way back to the 1400s. She pulled out the first file and opened it. Archaic English stared up at her from ancient yellowed parchment. "I think, I think these are letters," Bel breathed.

There was a mad scramble and a flurry of drawers being flung open, and banged shut. Letters had been more than they had dared to hope for. Someone might have even mentioned her by name. Two drawers before the end, they reached a thicker section of dates, centered on the Second Wizarding War. There were so many letters, it appeared that someone had given up on just labeling by the year, and separated it categories as well. In 1997 there were _Narcissa_ (a closer inspection revealed that the letters were to Narcissa, not from), _Business, Draco_ (this time from Draco), _Official Business, Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter,_ and _Orders_. Scorpius chose _Narcissa,_ Cat picked _Official Business_ , and Bel herself took _Orders_.

They read in silence for a few minutes before Cat shoved her file away with a slightly nauseous expression. "I don't think we're going to have any luck in _Official Business_. It's mostly reports of which Death Eater killed whom, and accounts of missions and things. It is actually quite disgusting. Either of you get anything useful?"

Scorpius replied before Bel could, "It's mostly useless stuff here too, but she got some letters from her sister Bellatrix that might be good. This one seems to be referencing a promise that they made. It's more than a little cryptic, but take a look. The date on the front is September, 1997."

Dear Narcissa, I have always helped you in this matter wherever I could, I will of course protect Draco whenever I can, although I am proud of his choice to join us, as you should be. He is younger than most, but it is a noble choice. Although I am sure that we will prevail in the end, some of us will undoubtably fall as we advance our righteous cause. You and Lucius have a much better chance than I do, but I swear to you that should you fall, I will do everything I can for your son. I now have a request to make of you in return. I would have you swear the same vow to me. That which I thought impossible has occurred. There is an heir, and the honor as been bestowed upon me. This is not something that I would entrust to that oaf Rodolphus, and there is no one I trust more than I trust you. If I should fall, it will be a target to all those who wish to do us harm. Do what you can to give it protection, until it is old enough to claim its birthright. Soon I may have to disappear for a while. He will insist on it, with Dumbledore still at large. The child's best protection will be anonymity.

Your Sister, Bellatrix

"It is really obscure, almost a code, but it does sound like she was pregnant at the right time, but it doesn't sound like Rudolphus was the father…" Cat commented.

Bel's stomach, which had already been tied into knots by what she had found, did a backflip. She mutely handed what she had found to her friends.

Lucius,

A secure hiding place must be found for Bellatrix, and the child, as there are those in our world who would stop at nothing to eliminate what they would perceive to be a threat. The safest might be a place among the muggles, as they would provide camouflage without presenting a threat. Find someone capable of performing the Fidelius Charm. I will be Secret Keeper. A suitable nanny must also be found, as even I will not be able to keep Bellatrix hidden safely for long. One with a Healer's knowledge, preferably a squib—one familiar with our world but without the power to challenge us. Bellatrix has also requested that you be the child's secondary guardian, do not fail me in this Lucius.

The note had no signature, but none was needed. All three knew that the only person to give Uncle Lucius, one of the most high ranking Death Eaters, orders like that would be the Dark Lord himself. Bel sensed her friend's eyes on her as they quietly replaced each document where they found it. She felt her stomach continue to contort itself into ever tighter knots. _My parents are Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. The two most notorious figures of the war._ Cat and Scorpius did not look any better than Bel felt. Scorpius's eyes were glazed over, and Cat had turned a pale shade of green.

"We are all idiots," said Scorpius dazedly, still slumped on the floor. "A Parselmouth…hidden away long enough for it to be impossible for anyone to ever guess who your parents are…it should have been obvious. The answer was right in front of us the entire time."

"All the extra precautions make sense now," mumbled Bel, sinking deeper and deeper into shock. "That's why we never figured it out. We were so hung up on which Death Eaters, that we never considered what would be worse than to be a Death Eater's daughter. We never really thought about why _that_ was their idea of a good cover story. I change my mind, can I have the Carrow's back now…" The joke was no longer funny, and Scorpius would not meet her eyes. Bel's stomach constricted into an iron twist inside her. None of it was funny anymore. _The most powerful wizard and witch of their generation. The Death Eaters will never let me go, they wanted something from me before I was even born. What will they make me do? Everyone else will want to kill me just to be safe, and I don't even blame them. They say my father could even fly. What can I do?_

As they made their way back to their rooms, careful not to make any noise in the halls, Cat let out a sigh. She no longer looked green, but when the color had faded from her skin, nothing had replaced it, leaving her skin looking translucent. "To be completely fair to ourselves, who would have guessed that? I mean Voldemort? That's not…that's just not something that you think of! I mean come on, _Bel?_ " She took a deep breath and finished, a little hysterically, with "It just can't be possible!"

The rest of Christmas passed in a blur, but whatever had been discussed in the meeting caused the adults to be so distracted, that they didn't notice the unusual silence from their young charges. They were watched even more closely than usual, and they were unable to steal even a few moments to discuss their revelation under the oppressive chattering of Aunt Astoria. Even the lack of applause when Scorpius unwrapped his new Lightening broomstick, did not seem to faze the adults. Cat's parents, thankfully, did not stay for Christmas, and sent her purple velvet dress robes. They had not even bothered to wrap them, but sent them straight from the shop. Bel could not have said what she received for Christmas—she would not have noticed the deed to Gringotts in her stocking. It was a relief when they finally boarded the train back to school.

The welcome party waiting on Platform 9 3/4 for James, Victoire, and Teddy was quite different from Bel's, all their parents and grandparents were present, and completely ecstatic that they were coming home for the first time that year. Lily and Albus bombarded James with questions about his first term at Hogwarts.

"How tall is the Gryffindor Tower?" "Did you make the Quiddich team?" "Did you see the Chamber of Secrets?" "Do you really have to fight a troll before being sorted?"

James laughed at his younger siblings' method of questioning people—cutting each other off in a nonstop babble in order to maximize the number of questions. _Even though they are only a little bit younger than I am, sometimes they seem so small!_ "Really tall, no first years never make house teams—and don't say Dad did, no the old Headmaster resealed it, and who told you that about trolls?" James replied, laughing.

"Uncle George told us about the troll," said Lily indignantly. "He wouldn't lie to us!"

 _Of course he would, and you two deserve it for always falling for his whoppers so easily._ "Well, it's actually three trolls, and the only way into Gryffindor is to knock all three of them out—without using your wand," James lied with a huge grin on his face. He watched as his younger siblings ran ahead with his mother and grandparents. His dad had stayed behind, helping to pick up his trunk.

"Thank you for not telling them. It really is better if they can stay carefree for as long as possible," said Harry in a low voice, smiling fondly at his son.

"I don't know if its _better_ that they not know before going off to school…something i'm still not to happy about by the way…but it will definitely be funnier. Teddy and Victoire sure had a good enough time with me earlier this year," James replied, with only a little bit of venom in his tone.

"Thank you for that," sighed Harry, looking incredibly relieved. "You…"

"If you're going to say I'll understand when I'm older, I am going to tell them right now. It really wasn't the most pleasant way to start my first year at school," James retorted, beginning to become very annoyed—something he had promised himself he would not do. James hurried to catch up with his grandfather, who was having an animated conversation on "YourTubes" with Albus and Lily, looking completely perplexed, but intrigued. _No wonder so much stuff slips through the cracks. Grandpa is in charge of monitoring the internet, and he can barely understand it._

Because Christmas was so close, no one—not even Teddy and his grandmother Andromeda—went back home. Instead they drove straight to the Burrow. For a while, Andromeda had tried to protest imposing on the Weasley clan for holidays, but her efforts had died out many years before, as Grandma Weasley had once put it, "You spend the rest of the year with our family, (they were even included on her magical clock). Not spending Christmas with us is just silly." James could see the three magically enhanced wizarding tents were already pitched in the garden. This was a relief, as last year Uncle George, who was supposed to be helping, had decided it would be funny—for him—to let the kids try to pitch them without magical help from the adults. This went on for almost three hours, before his mother caught on, and erected the tents in five-seconds, while yelling at her son in a shrill voice.

The Burrow had been too small for the entire Weasley clan for as long as James could remember, and all of the grandchildren slept in the tents while the adults claimed the still-cramped main house. James and his cousins did not really mind this, as it was much easier to make trouble away from the main house, but they still made the effort to put in a token amount of complaining, least their parents get too suspicious. These annual bouts of mischief were aided and abetted by their Uncle George, who even occasionally deigned to sleep in the tents—much to the chagrin of his wife Angelina—to better observe the effects of his new merchandise as it was put to the test for the first time.

Inside the Burrow, James found that the party from Hogwarts was the last to arrive. Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron were sitting at the kitchen table with their two children, Hugo and Rose, and Victoire's younger siblings, Dominique and Louis, who had not been with their parents at the station. Molly, Lucy, Fred, and Roxanne could be heard playing a game of pick up Quiddich above the tents—probably on stolen brooms. Their fathers' watched, Percy attempting to retrieve the pilfered brooms, and George egging his son, daughter, and nieces on.

Eventually things settled down in the week before Christmas, finally settling into a routine of Quiddich and family dinners. Christmas morning dawned, bright, and cold, with a fair dusting of snow on the ground that may or may not have been a magical Christmas present from one of the adult wizards. Although thin, it provided more than enough for an early morning snowball fight before the elder Weasleys had awakened. The burrow contained an enormous Christmas tree, with a large array of presents arranged beneath it. Beyond the usual selection of slightly lumpy sweaters from Grandma Weasley, who liked to joke that it was beginning to take her all year to knit the next batch, there was a selection of new toys from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and the inevitable supply of books from Aunt Hermione.

When all the presents had been freed from their wrapping paper and strewn all over the floor, Harry stood up to announce something. "To my everlasting shame as the Head Auror, James has already claimed half of his present this year by stealing the family Invisibility Cloak right out of my study, probably with the help of Teddy and Victoire. Yes, I know about that," he commented, glaring good-naturedly at his son James, whose ears were turning red. "However, somehow they missed this," he continued handing James a thin box, tied only with a black ribbon.

"Come on! Open it then! Not that we don't all know what it is," called Uncle George, ducking a swipe from his wife.

James tore off the ribbon, and opened the box. An old sheaf of yellowed parchment was nestled in a bed of cotton. It was emblazoned with the words,

Messers. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP

"As the current Potter at Hogwarts, they belong to you. I was always planning on giving both the map and the cloak to you this Christmas, and someday you are going to tell me how you got the cloak, I didn't even notice it was gone for at least a week. I have two conditions. One is that you share with Albus and Lily, the second is that you confine whatever trouble you get into to reasonable levels." Harry's breath was knocked out of him as his three children tackled him to the floor.

Christmas break flew by after that, and before anyone was ready, they were boarding the train and heading back. It was a pleasant ride, which they spent discussing exactly what would appear on the map once everyone had returned from holiday. It was so large, that when it was completely unfurled, it took up most of the compartment when it rested on their knees. Enough people had remained at Hogwarts that tiny dots could still be seen moving through the common rooms and congregating in the common rooms.

"Look where the Hufflepuff common room is. It's down by the kitchens!" exclaimed Victoire, "I never knew that."

"Of course Ravenclaw has their tower, but look where the Slytherins decided to put theirs," snarked Teddy. "Who would want to live in the dungeons?"

"Look at McGonagall in her office," commented James. "She's been pacing this entire time. I wonder if the Room of Requirement is on this? And where are the secret passages?" They all fell silent, searching for the hidden treasures that, according to their parents, lurked inside Hogwarts's walls. Only the occasional exclamation of excitement from a new revelation broke the silence for the remaining hour of the ride.

They were finally forced to refold the map and stuff it inside James's robes as they moved to the carriages that ferried the students up to the school. After being pushed aside by older students for several minutes, they finally claimed a carriage of their own where they could return to perusing the map. The long slow ride back to the castle was even more interesting than the train had been, as soon carriages started to appear on the map, revealing their riders.

Other than a few pairs of seventh years that had claimed carriages to themselves, nothing interesting appeared on the map until they were almost out of the Forbidden Forest.

"Look, Malfoy and Goyle," said Teddy disgustedly, pointing to the newest carriage that had just appeared on the boarder of the map.

"But who's that with them?" said Victoire bemusedly. "Belladonna Riddle? Isn't her name Black? It sounds familiar, but it must be some sort of malfunction. The teachers call her Black and everything."

James however, had frozen, staring at the three little dots crawling across the parchment. "Toran just made us do an essay on the War. Riddle was _his_ last name."

Victoire had turned very white. "Come off it, she's too young. Besides, how could they convince the entire staff that her name was Black?"

Teddy was shaking his head, trying very hard to convince himself that this couldn't be possible. "What if the map made a mistake? It's really old, right?"

"I'll write Dad tonight, but I don't think the map makes mistakes. It makes perfect sense once you think about it. Malfoy and Goyle are both Death Eater's kids, and they follow her around like lost puppies. She's already broken into the Restricted Section, and probably the Headmistress's Office too." James brooded for a second, If she really is Voldemort's daughter, she could be planning anything…anything at all!"

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**


	10. Letters

Letters

Breakfast was always incredibly noisy, and because of this, the Great Hall was the perfect place to discuss the letter. James had been unable to sleep last night after the shocking revelation on the carriage ride, and had spent the last eight hours writing hundreds of drafts of the same letter by the glow of a single candle. Even before his roommates had fallen asleep, his bin had been overfilled with crumpled parchment balls and they had started to overflow onto the floor. James read what he desperately hoped would be the final draft before pushing it across the table, between a bleary-eyed Victoire and a disheveled Teddy. His friends did not look as if they had gotten any more sleep than he had, and looked about as awful as he felt.

Dear Dad,

Thank you for the map, you really can see everything on it. We watched it on the train, but something odd happened when we got here. The map got the name of a girl in our year wrong. Her first name was correct, but it showed a different last name for her. Does the map sometimes make mistakes? Is there any way to fix it?

Love you,

James

Victoire and Teddy read over the letter slowly. "Well, it's sort of vague, isn't it?" commented Victoire, before taking a bite of toast.

"He couldn't exactly say 'hey Dad, the map's great and all, but this girl showed up as Belladonna Riddle, and we think she's _his_ daughter, but we have absolutely no proof. Could you come right now and deal with it? Oh, and by the way, I think that she's up to something nefarious that includes breaking into the Headmistress's Office and the Restricted Section.' That would go over real well, wouldn't it?" said Teddy sarcastically.

"I actually wrote a couple of drafts that sounded something like that," replied James. "But they all came out sounding just as mad as what Teddy just said. Besides, what could he possible do about it? Either he laughs it off, or he switches to Auror mode and comes charging over here to pull us all out of school, proof or not. I just ended up asking the questions we actually want answered, without giving away that something is wrong. I think it worked."

"I guess you're right James," sighed Victoire. "I can't think of an adult who would believe us and have the power to do anything. Uncle Harry might, but it's sort of out of his official jurisdiction, and McGonagall wouldn't consider the map a reliable source of information. At least he will tell us if he ever saw the map make a mistake. I say send it."

"Yes. If we post it today, we'll get an answer either tonight or tomorrow," agreed Teddy.

"Good. I'll post it after breakfast. Can I borrow Acelin? She's fastest, isn't she?" said James.

"Sure," replied Victoire, nodding her head. Acelin was her enormous Great Horned Owl. "Remember Slytherin is playing us later!" she called after James as he scoped up the letter, and headed to the Owlery.

James, after grabbing a roll from the basket, had already made it several steps from the table before calling back, "How could I forget!"

After posting the letter, the rest of the morning blurred past except for Potions, where James could not help staring at Bel and her friends. It was impossible to discern whether their suspicions were correct or not, but a creeping feeling travelled down James's spine every time his eyes brushed hers. _They definitely look suspicious,_ James decided… _all curled up in the corner like that, almost hidden behind the fumes rising from the simmering cauldrons._

The letter arrived just as Harry was sitting down to lunch with Ginny. It was a calm week—he was not needed in the office every day and Lily and Albus were at the village primary school. The Potters had decided long ago to send their children to school with the local muggles, if more wizarding children had exposure to the muggle world, some serious mistakes could have been avoided. The arrival of Acelin startled the Potters, as although Victoire wrote them occasionally, her letters had always arrived at the normal time, and she had just left on Monday.

"Perhaps she left something at the Burrow, and is trying to find out if anyone picked it up for her," wondered Ginny as she went to let the owl in through the kitchen window. Her expression soon became even more puzzled. "Harry, it's for you." Her husband looked up quickly. "And it's in James's handwriting," she continued, handing over the letter.

Harry took the letter, and began to scan it quickly. Soon his concerned expression dissolved into laughter. "James wrote it," he confirmed, "but it's really from all three of them. They've already gotten into the map, and found out something they probably shouldn't." Harry handed the letter over to Ginny before fishing out parchment and quill from the junk drawer.

She too read the letter and laughed. "I can't believe you actually gave them the bloody thing. It's going to cause no end of trouble. The poor girl is probably adopted or something, and would be terribly embarrassed if anyone found out."

"That's a good point," Harry murmured, quill scratching away on the parchment. "I didn't think of that, but whatever it is, I would bet that the map's more accurate than whatever the school records say. But don't tell McGonagall. She'll take it as personal affront if the records misspelled a name, let alone got one wrong entirely!" Harry gave the reply to Acelin, and promptly forgot about the incident. He would not remember the letter for over five years—long after he had met Belladonna Black.

Soon the afternoon came, and the school slowly emptied as the Quidditch pitch filled. Swaths of scarlet and emerald filled the stands, even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were showing team spirit. Hufflepuff was supporting Gryffindor because they were just behind Slytherin in the race to the cup. Ravenclaw was mostly wearing green, as they were ahead of Gryffindor, and wanted to stay in the lead.

The pitch was always surrounded by a wall of sound emanating from the thousands of students talking animatedly about the upcoming match. Most people seemed to think Slytherin would win, considering that Gryffindor had lost two of its Chasers this year. Some students even engaged in the brisk but illicit gambling trade. The current odds were two to one in Slytherin's favor, and climbing.

James pushed his way through the crowded stands, heading towards Teddy and Victoire, who had already claimed their usual seats in the upper corner of one of the towers. They were good seats, up high and close to the action, but far enough away to be safe from the Bludgers that the Slytherin Beaters liked to hit into the stands. The Bludgers had never yet hit any of the spectators, but they regularly came close enough to create a breeze, so the front row was always significantly less crowded when Slytherin was playing.

James was close to being late to the game, as he had split from Teddy and Victoire to check the owlery for a reply after finishing lunch. He had known that is was too early to expect a reply, and of course there was none, but he still had gone to check. He had climbed up to the owlery between every single one of his classes too. He slid into his seat just as Professor Wood released the balls into the air. Teddy looked a question at James, but he just shook his head.

Victoire glanced away from the match and laughed. "You didn't really expect one did you? Acelin may be the fastest owl within a hundred miles, but there isn't an owl in the country that could get from Hogwarts to Godric's Hollow between breakfast and lunch. I wouldn't even bother to check again until after dinner. We might have an answer by then if Uncle Harry writes quickly." She turned back to the match, and let out a loud cheer, along with half of the stands, as Gryffindor made the first goal of the game.

After an exciting first half-hour, the game started to drag. Goalscoring was slow and infuriatingly even. It was currently 50 to 50, and neither team had ever led by more than ten points. It was starting to look like one of those matches that would last well past dinner. Neither Seeker was managing to do anything impressive, and only once had the Snitch been seen. Obviously, it hadn't been caught.

Bel was starting to become bored, and Cat had given up an hour ago—she had fished some Transfiguration homework out of her bag two hours in. Even Scorpius's eyes were beginning to glaze over, something Bel would not have thought possible during a Quidditch match. He had even insisted that they take some of the empty seats in the front row. Bludgers were less likely to come barreling towards the Slytherin section of the stands, but as it was not exactly unheard of, most people chose to sit at least one row back from the action. If matches dragged on too long, they usually started to make snarky comments about the players' flying ability, but Bel had not even bothered to attempt to start one of those conversations today. Things had gotten better in the weeks since the holidays, as they had finally been able to steal time to actually talk about what had happened, but things were still _different_. It was hard to carry on light conversations when the secret was dangling over their heads. _But things are getting better…they definitely are. Scorpius told a joke yesterday, and we all laughed,_ Bel thought. Probably as time goes on, we will get used to it. _They say you can learn to live with anything, and at least everything happened ages ago._

Bel was jerked rudely out of her reverie by an explosion of sound from the stands, and Scorpius's voice screaming rudely in her ear. He had her by the shoulders, and was shaking her, yelling "Jacob scored!" over and over again.

 _By the amount of noise, anyone would have thought that they had just won the game by a landslide as opposed to moving the score from 50-50 to 60-50. People were definitely odd sometimes_.

There were as many jeers from the Gryffindor stands as cheers from the Slytherins. _Not our most glorious moment,_ reflected James. _And it had to be Mr.-Oh-So-Perfect Head Boy who finally scored. At least he wasn't Quidditch Captain too. That would have been just too much to bear._ Teddy and Victoire were yelling at Wood. Apparently they thought Jacob had made some sort of foul. Most of Gryffindor seemed to think that barreling into their Keeper was unfair, but Wood seemed to actually be buying the "I was so focused on the hoops, I didn't see him" excuse. Typical.

The Slytherin cheers didn't last for long. Galvanized by the attack on their Keeper, the Gryffindor team started to play better. The Beaters actually managed to knock Jacob off his broom, and the Chasers scored two goals in rapid succession, regaining the lead. And soon, Gryffindor Seeker, a seventh year girl named Prewitt, zoomed after a streak of gold across the pitch. Despite dodging a Bludger and eluding the pursuit of the Slytherin Seeker, she grasped the Snitch. Pandemonium reigned.

The party spilled from the pitch into the Great Hall, where dinner was served underneath scarlet and gold banners. Even the letter from home was forgotten amidst the good cheer, and illicit Butterbeer, at the Gryffindor table. Teddy, Victoire, and James ended up sitting only a few seats down from two of the Chasers, and were regaled with tales from the match. Dinner lasted easily twice as long as it should have, and it was almost as delicious as Halloween had been. Even the house elves seemed to be in a good mood, as an enormous treacle tart appeared on the table for dessert.

It was close to ten by the time the Great Hall began to empty, and James finally remembered the letter. He rushed back to the owlery to check if Acelin was back, and sure enough the Great Horned Owl was sleeping on her perch, with a letter tied to her leg. Not knowing how important it was, the bird had presumably been waiting to deliver it in the morning. James untied the letter and gave Acelin a pat. She really was a good owl. He raced down the staircases to the common room without unsealing the letter, even though it was tempting, Teddy and Victoire deserved to read it just as much as he did. They were waiting at a small table surrounded by armchairs in a corner, and James slid into the empty seat, placing the scroll in the center of the table. A wordless glance later, Victoire broke the seal and unrolled it across the table. It was a surprisingly long letter, and they bent their heads to read it.

Dear James,

I was so happy to hear that you are so enjoying the map! I found it quite useful, probably more than I should have. As to if the map makes mistakes, I have never known it to be mistaken, and Sirius once claimed that it never lied. However, it was made by four Hogwarts students, albeit talented ones, and it is far from perfect. It does not show either the Chamber of Secrets or the Room of Requirement, as the Marauders never discovered them, and is probably missing several secret passages as well. Of course, it is confined to Hogwarts grounds. That being said, I have never known the map to actually report wrong information, only to be incomplete. It has even been known to see through enchantments and disguises. It will always report the true name of an animagus, whatever form they take. It also cannot be fooled by invisibility cloaks or polyjuice potion. Twice I have thought the map to be mistaken, only to discover that it knew truths I did not. As to its strange reaction to the girl, I would not be surprised if the map shows her real name. Perhaps she was adopted, or changed her name for another reason. I don't know how the map would respond to such a situation, having never encountered it myself. If the map truly is broken, I am sad to say there is nothing I could do to fix it. I never asked how the map was made when I had the chance, and now it is too late. But if the girl is the only anomaly on the map, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Either it is a harmless error, or a personal choice. I would advise not drawing attention to it, as the truth may be embarrassing to this girl. Your mother, Albus, and Lily send all their love.

Love,

Dad

P.S. Why did you send this by Victoire's Acelin? It seems like this could have waited until the normal post tomorrow morning at the earliest!

The three of them sat in silence for several minutes, reading and rereading the letter. James finally looked up to meet the troubled eyes of his friends. It was obvious that they had been holding out the same hope he had been clinging to. He might dislike Bel and her friends, and have no doubts that whatever they were playing at was malicious, but the idea of Belladonna Riddle was downright frightening. "Well, I guess this answers our question," James commented, returning his gaze to the piece of parchment.

"All this really says is that her name probably is Riddle. Not that she is," Victoire gulped a little, "Voldemort's daughter. She's too young. She's eleven, your age James. She wasn't born until years after he died. It's not possible, it's not a bad theory, but it is just impossible. It would have to be a different Riddle or something."

"And exactly how many other Riddles do you know? I spent my detention from the Library incident polishing the entire Trophy Room four times before Filch was satisfied," Teddy snapped. "There was only one Riddle in the entire thing. Head Boy. Prefect. Quidditch Captain. Special Services to the School. Medal for Magical Merit. The name was absolutely everywhere, but all from one person. Besides she was raised by the Malfoys! What do you want, a blinking sign that says Devil's Spawn? We already know that she's lying about her name, who knows what else she made up. She's really little right? She could be passing for a couple of years younger than she really is."

"Anyway, the more pressing issue is that we are back where we were before," James mused. " _We_ know who she is, but no one would believe us. Besides, even if we could prove who she was, technically that's not a crime, and we can't prove that she was behind the Library, Headmistress's Office, none of it."

"We'll just have to find some proof, then,"declared Teddy.

Victoire rolled her eyes dramatically at him. "Of course we are going to try to figure out whats going on, but there is a difference between knowing and being able to prove it. If we just see them do it, it's going to turn into our word against theirs. Even if the teachers want to believe us…a dubious assumption at best…we'd need an adult to see it, or a dead body. Anything short of that is just going to get us laughed out of McGonagall's Office. I mean, think about it. Our story sounds completely ridiculous!"

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**


	11. Pilfered

Pilfered

It seemed to Teddy that there was something off about Hagrid during a class in the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid seemed distracted, and once told the class that it was best to feed Hippogriffs Venomous Tentacula. It was extremely odd, and Teddy was determined to figure exactly what was wrong. He had learned that when teachers started acting oddly at Hogwarts it usually ended up affecting the students too. James, Victoire, and Teddy headed down the rocky path to Hagrid's hut during their free time after lunch, mainly because of one of Teddy's crazy hunches—sadly, it was how many things they did usually happened, but sometimes it did work out. It was a rather unpleasant day. The sky was grey, with rain threatening to drop from the dark clouds that loomed overhead. The air was muggy with suppressed rain. Teddy was racing ahead, with James struggling to keep up on his shorter legs. Victoire lazily walked down the hill, many paces behind them, ignoring their competition all together.

"Victoire, come on!" Teddy yelled over his shoulder as he neared Hagrid's hut. The pumpkins that grew outside the hut were bright orange with darker streaks, and their vivid green vines waved in the slight breeze at James and Teddy as they approached. James looked curiously at a small bird that perched upon a pumpkin, wondering why, with the oncoming rain, it didn't go back to its nest, which probably sat high in a tree deep in the forest. It was the only creature he had seen on the walk down from the castle as all the others had wisely decided to hide in their respective burrows.

"I don't understand why you think this is necessary, Teddy," Victoire complained as she slowed to a stop next to James. "I have _so_ many better things to do and you're dragging me down here. Not that I don't love Hagrid, but I don't want to spend the few hours I have before dinner pestering him about something that doesn't exist and isn't a problem. So when he denies it the first time, can we just say goodbye and go do something productive?"

Teddy shot her a glare over his shoulder and knocked on the door to Hagrid's hut. "Hagrid, could we talk to you?" he called. The soft thud of footsteps grew louder and louder until the door opened, revealing Hagrid's massive form. His large bushy beard had grey hairs here and there and his face was covered with dirt from his pumpkin patch, but he smiled at Teddy and James, and then back to Victoire, who stood a bit back from the other two with her arms crossed.

"Oh hello, Harry—James, sorry. Yeh jus look so much like yeh father. Teddy, Victoire." Hagrid stepped aside to let them through the doorway. "Come on in ev'ryone, I'm not doing much really."

The hut was just large enough for Hagrid and had barely enough room left over for a small gathering of people. The large round dining table off set from the center of the room with an oversized armchair near the window. It wasn't the most tidy James had ever seen it,—papers were strewn this way and that and plates were stacked on every open surface. Even by Hagrid's standards it was a mess. The fire, while dampened, still had bits of wood and embers that burned brightly in the late afternoon light slanting in through the window. Hagrid walked over to the stove where the kettle screeched to be taken off. "Tea anybody?" Teddy and James declined as politely as possible. James had no idea how his parents had drunk it, because it was completely foul, but somehow Victoire actually liked it.

"I would like a cup, Hagrid. Thank you," Victoire said as she closed the door. "One sugar please—brown if you have it."

"O' course, I use it fer rock cakes, but yeh th' firs' person ive' ever met tha' wan'ned it in tea." Hagrid poured out two cups of steaming hot tea—one in a large mug and the other into a standard, if slightly chipped, cup and plopped sugar into both. As he set the kettle down on the stove again, he redirected his attention to the three. "So, wha' can I do fer yeh?"

"Are you all right, Hagrid? You seemed kind of upset today in class," Teddy asked, attempting—and failing—to sound casual.

Hagrid set down his cup. "What do you mean I seemed upset? I don't have any reason to be." His voice rose in both volume and pitch as he spoke.

Teddy smiled internally. _Gotcha Hagrid_. "You couldn't really seem to find your words today in class and you ended lessons early."

James sat down next to Victoire, and sharing a look with Teddy, said, "We don't mean anything by it, Hagrid. We just want to be sure that everything's fine."

Hagrid fell silent, clearly thinking about exactly how to word what he said next. His eyes darted around the room and he was doing his very best to avoid the gazes of Teddy, James, and Victoire. Rain started to fall softly outside the window, and the few embers left in the dwindling fire crackled to fill the silence, but it could not cut through the tension that pulled the room taut. Teddy crossed his arms as he waited patiently for Hagrid to crack and Victoire sipped on her tea, trying her best not to glare at Teddy. James, however, was intrigued. He had always wondered if it was actually as easy to get forbidden information out of Hagrid as his father's stories had implied.

"Doesn' a teacher have the righ' teh be upset without bein' questioned an' harassed by me own students? Why is it yeh business anyway? It's not like you three would have any idea wha' happened teh The Book of Necromancy!"

"The Book of Necromancy?" They all exclaimed in perfect unison. Victoire nearly spilled her tea all over her freshly cleaned uniform when James leapt up from his seat next to her.

"I shouldn'ta said that," Hagrid muttered to himself. "I shouldn'ta said that." He turned to the three. "Why does it always happen like this! Yeh three have to swear yeh won't go talkin' teh people about this."

"About what, Hagrid?" James said, shrugging his shoulders and mimicking confusion.

"About The Book of Necromancy goin' missin'. And we don' even know how long it's been gone!" Hagrid insisted.

"Do they know who took it?" Teddy was smiling from ear to ear. He pointed a finger triumphantly into Victoire's face. "I told you so! I told you something was up!" He jumped around, disrupting the already chaotic setting of Hagrid's hut.

"Shut it, Teddy," Victoire snapped as she slumped in her seat looking defeated.

"So, who took it, Hagrid? Who took it?" Teddy looked at him eagerly, hoping for an interesting answer. "Have they been expelled yet?"

"We don' know who took it. It's not your business anyway to know tha' Pince thinks Belladonna snatched it outta the Forbidden Section."

"I knew it!" James yelled. He began to jump around with Teddy, both boys too overwhelmed to notice Victoire yelling at them.

"Shouldn'ta said that. I shouldn'ta said that." Hagrid had taken a seat at the table. His eyes shifted from his half full cup of tea to the boys and looked pleadingly to Victoire. "Yeh have to promise you won' go telling ev'ryone."

Victoire sighed, standing to give her tea cup back to Hagrid. She looked apologetically from the boys back to Hagrid. "I can only promise I'll try, Hagrid. Merlin only knows what those two will possibly do."

Without their interference, the school was quickly buzzing with curiosity about the legendary book that got stolen from the Restricted Section. It was impossible to tell who leaked the news, but before lunch the day after it had been discovered missing, everyone seemed to have an opinion on the matter. People questioned who took it, how anyone managed to get past Filch, and what the book could possibly be used for. The teachers constantly reprimanded the students in a futile attempt to quell the rumors. For once, something seemed to be more popular than Quidditch, which was a rarity in and of itself. A name was yet to be matched with the thief, and every meal a new favorite seemed to be in favor, some people even insisted that one of the teachers had taken it.

"I told you two it was a bad idea to talk so openly about it. Meals are the absolute worst times to talk about things that don't concern us, let alone the entire school. And since the fact that the teachers don't know how long it's been missing is not _yet_ common knowledge, can we please _try_ to keep quiet about it?" Victoire scolded. Teddy and Victoire had promised James they would help with a project for Transfiguration, but with each passing moment, Victoire was regretting her decision. The common room she had trapped herself in was filled with students, all proposing new and ever more ludicrous theories about the culprit.

"Ok, but it wasn't us. Everyone knew before we said anything. We weren't the leak. If we were, everyone would be wondering when it was stolen!" James insisted.

"Just because you didn't manage to tell them everything we know doesn't mean they didn't hear it from you!" Victoire snapped.

"But it's not like we could've known that…"

"No, that's enough!" Victoire said. She threw down the stack of papers she had been gathering for James onto the floor of the common room. "I've had enough of you to trying to defend your stupid decisions to stick your noses places they don't belong. You two need to get it together and quit poking around." She began to walk up to the second year girls' dormitory when she turned around and glared at both Teddy and James. "You two ought to apologize to Hagrid for your idiocy. Even if it wasn't your fault I'm sure he thinks it was you two, so say sorry!" With that she was gone, leaving James and Teddy to continue working on their own. They worked in silence for a moment before James set down what he was working on.

"You know, she's right."

"About?" Teddy continued to sort through papers.

"Apologizing to Hagrid. We did put him in a tough situation, what with two students breathing down his neck about something they don't need to be involved in. Even if we didn't blab about it to the whole school." James sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace, staring blankly at the flames.

"OK, fine. We can apologize tomorrow." Teddy gathered the papers off the floor and dropped them down next to James. "You should go to bed."

"You should too," James said as he rose from the couch.

"Tomorrow, we apologize. Right?" Teddy called after him as he ascended the steps.

"Yeah, yeah. Tomorrow."

It was an unlucky coincidence that James and Bel had been made partners in Potions, but they had called an uneasy truce that stood because neither of them was actually going to kill the other during class. Originally, Professor Thorne had let them choose seats, but after just a few classes of constant talking and a general lack of attention, he went back on his word and arranged the class himself. Scorpius and Cat had been exiled to opposite sides of the classroom, and Bel and James were given the desk only a few paces away from Thorne's. Most of the class agreed that he had been feeling particularly vindictive when he had rearranged the class.

James had one of their textbooks flipped open to the page about boils and curing them. "How many fangs have you crushed so far?" he asked, frowning at the vague instructions.

"Five," Bel replied as she reached across the table for the sixth. As she began to grind it into a fine powder in her mortar, she started to voice her gripes aloud. "I don't understand why we have to do this. What kind of job requires me to know how to cure boils? I can just buy it like everyone else."

"Maybe if you're an Auror or something," James suggested absentmindedly, as he attempted to decipher the page of the Potions textbook.

"They deal with dark wizards and dark magic and stuff, not curing boils." Bel's grinding was vigorous, and James couldn't tell if she was just being extremely thorough or if she were genuinely angered by the pointless assignment.

"My dad's an Auror and he insists he uses stuff from school that he never thought he would all the time. Maybe even curing boils." James passed her the pewter scales so she could begin to add the ground snake fangs to the cauldron. "What did your parents do?" he asked, attempting to divert the conversation and perhaps learn something interesting in the process.

Bel stiffened at the mention of her parents. "They…" Bel thought fast, "…didn't really do anything official. They were more…I guess entrepreneurs is the right word," she said as she measured out the snake fangs.

James was intrigued. It was not the answer he had been expecting. "What do you mean 'entrepreneurs'?"

"They really did their own thing," Bel evaded in a neutral disinterested tone.

James decided not to accept the evasion. "That's the definition of an entrepreneur. I mean, what did they do? Like, did they own a business like my uncle did or…?"

Bel cut him off and added the measurement of powdered snake fangs she had been holding. Sometimes a little bit of the truth goes a long way. "I don't know, James. I don't know exactly what my parents did." She let a little bit of her real tension leak into her voice, hoping that James would obey the unwritten rule that you didn't press the war orphans too much. _It is probably too much to ask with James Potter though._

They were both silent for a minute while James carefully considered his next move. That last answer felt like the closest to the truth he had ever gotten out of her. "You have to have known something about your parents. Nobody would leave a kid completely in the dark about that. You have to know _something_ besides their names. Come on…everyone's curious. There hasn't been a Black for ages, and one just suddenly pops up out of nowhere? Unless you're lying about that, of course. Someone want to use you to claim an inheritance?"

Bel scooped more of the snake fangs into the cauldron, desperately trying to keep herself from kicking James in the shin.

James could sense he was close, so he forged on. "But it's worse than that. You said your parents died in the war, but you didn't specify how. Your parents were Death Eaters, weren't they? Why else would you have come to grow up with the Malfoys? Nobody sane would just give their child to the Malfoys. If you were just an orphan, you would have had some family to take you in. Even Riddle was given to an orphanage."

Bel cringed inwardly at the mention of the name Riddle. "How would you know where Riddle was raised, James? Been researching things you shouldn't?" Bel taunted as she dumped the final measurement into the cauldron.

"That project we did at the beginning of the year, on famous dark witches and wizards? I did mine on him." James narrowed his eyes at her. "How would you know?"

Bel stayed quiet at she turned up the heat on the cauldron and stirred it. "It's none of your business James, but then again, isn't that your hobby—sticking your nose into other people's business? Besides, I didn't say I knew…I just asked how _you_ did…but with _your parents,_ perhaps that was a stupid question." Bel waved her wand over the cauldron and leaned on the table. "Listen, James," she sighed as she took in a breath and grabbed a fistful of her skirt…trying to hide her shaking hand. "You know about as much about my parents as I do. The Malfoys have left me in the dark and I know I'm a Black for the same reason you know you're a Potter. The people who raised me said so. I don't know if they'll ever tell me anything else, but if they haven't told me, it's for a good reason. All right?" She raised her hand and looked to the front of the room at Professor Thorne. "Professor, we're done," Bel declared. Looking back at James, she smiled defeatedly. "Please just leave it alone." She sighed and swept her textbook off the table into her bag.

James looked down to keep the fire in his eyes away from Bel's sight. "Fine."

"Good. Take your cauldron off the burner and place it in the back of the classroom. We're leaving them for next class," Professor Thorne roared over the chatter of students anxious for the end of a lesson. "Remember, everyone. I want your essay on a brew of your choice by next class; no exceptions for late papers." Everyone filed out of class eagerly while Bel lagged behind, slowly making her way to where Professor Thorne sat.

"Um, Professor," she said hesitantly "Could I possibly move to a different seat?" she pleaded. Professor Thorne looked down at her.

"I did notice you and Mr. Potter, but I thought it was best not to interrupt." Thorne sucked in a breath and folded his hands. "I'm sorry, Miss Black, but I can't do anything to move you or change your partner. It would be unfair to other students who would have to be inconvenienced to accommodate you. I can only apologize. I thought that you and Mr. Potter might challenge each other, but I was wrong."

Bel's mood deflated. She shrugged her shoulders. "It's all right. I figured you couldn't, but I hope you understand why I had to ask. Sorry to bother you, Professor." She left without another word to him, or even to Scorpius and Cat, who had waited patiently outside the classroom for her.

"James?" Cat commiserated, resting a hand on Bel's shoulder.

"James should be given a job as a Department of Magical Law Enforcement interrogator as soon as he graduates. No Veritaserum necessary," Bel spat.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen with illustrations available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**


	12. The Surprise Announcement

The Surprise Announcement

Exams were fast approaching, and the thought of actually taking tests in some of his subjects almost drove the thought of the missing Book of Necromancy, and what Bel could be doing with it, out of James's mind. Three weeks before exams were scheduled to begin, James trudged up the steps to the Astronomy Tower, surrounded by some of the Slytherin and Gryffindor first years. Victoire had made him stay up half the night yesterday to help her study Defense Against the Dark Arts, which consisted of either holding flashcards, or being blasted repeatedly into a pile of cushions. James honestly couldn't decide which activity was worse.

After an eternity, the steps of the tower finally ended, and flattened out into the platform. The telescopes were set up on the roof, which was good, as Professor Sinistra never lectured and held a practical class at the same time. James felt that marking down star positions was slightly less boring than listening to the Professor drone on about constellations and Signs of the Zodiac. However the Professor looked distinctly excited, which was definitely depressing. Sinistra never looked excited unless something that James would consider very bad was about to happen. Such as extra homework.

Sure enough, she clapped her hands for silence, and addressed the class. "As some of you are no doubt aware, something very special is about to happen next week. There will be a triple conjunction of the planets, on May 11th, when Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter come together in the night sky. Your exam will be to observe and record the interaction of the planets, that night…"

At this point James's hand shot into the air. Professor Sinistra looked surprised, but nodded for him to continue. "Sorry Professor, but exams aren't until June. How are we supposed to observe the conjunction thing for the exam?"

"Excellent point, Mr. Potter!" replied Sinistra, not deterred in the least. "Because of the rarity of such a special event, I have obtained special permission from the headmistress to make a slight alteration to the exam schedule. The Astronomy exam will be the week of the conjunction, so we all can have the experience of watching the event!"

At this the entire class groaned. Bel slumped in her seat, and muttered, "Exams three weeks early! It isn't fair! How can she do this to us?" Scorpius only continued to glare at the ecstatic professor in disgust.

Cat had buried her head in her arms, and was whispering "I'm doomed," over and over again. She wasn't very good at astronomy, and had counted on an easy exam for the first years. This was far worse than anything she could have imagined.

Of course, Professor Sinistra did not notice her students' distress, but continued to babble happily about the many useful magical things—that nobody actually did—that could be gleaned from knowledge of planetary conjunctions. They were not even able to retreat behind their brass telescopes. The air grew colder as time crept by…as if through stinksap syrup. When everyone had frozen solidly to the stone benches, Sinistra looked up at the sky and started. "Stars, look at the time! Where did my hour and a half go? Hurry down to your dormitories. Please try to make it before curfew!" As she dismissed the class, a flick of her wand sent the telescopes back into their cases and stacked them neatly in the supply closet.

Bel, Cat, and Scorpius hurried down into the castle, immensely grateful for the warm air that soon greeted them. An angry buzz of conversation started as soon as their teeth stopped chattering long enough to form words. Not a single person was pleased, in fact, most felt that the situation bordered on cruel and unusual punishment. Others thought it counted as Pulling an Umbridge, and should be a firing offense. The commiseration continued all the way down to the dungeons, and became even louder when the first years from other sections learned of the situation.

The next morning, James stumbled sleepily down to the Great Hall for breakfast, only to find that he was not the only one who had had a nasty surprise yesterday. Teddy and Victoire had beaten him there, and Teddy was busy ranting something about Trelawney and planets. "Divination has been absolutely ridiculous all year, but this takes the cake! The conjunction thing from Astronomy—I assume Sinistra bored your class with it too—well Trelawney is even more obsessed with it. She actually thinks that it's going to cause some sort of disaster for everyone! She wants each of us to keep a detailed report of every bad thing that happens for the entire week! She will then "interpret our individual signs" and reveal to us what the planets are warning us of! It is the silliest thing she's ever had us do, and we once had to look for signs in flesh-eating slug tracks!"

James grinned grimly, as Teddy ground to a halt. "You think that's bad? Wait to you hear what Sinistra cooked up for us first years. She is moving the exam up _three weeks_. I didn't even think she could do that! Even worse is the fact that Sinistra is making the first years do it. It should be N. E. W. T. level if it's for an exam!"

Victoire looked downright gleeful that she had escaped both Trelawney and Sinistra. "Didn't you know? She doesn't _have_ any N. E. W. T. students this year. She got everyone through their O. W. L. s all right, but no one wanted to continue. They all dropped it!"

James first felt grim satisfaction that Sinistra had been abandoned by her students, and then, a twinge of guilt. The professor simply couldn't understand that not everyone wanted to stargaze in their free time.

Victoire, seeing James's face, continued. "The professors aren't the only ones acting oddly because of this conjunction thing. Some of the students from my year are treating it almost like some sort of holiday. It seems some of the old families have odd ideas about conjunctions and other stuff—eclipses, transits, and equinoxes—things like that. They still believe that they actually have an impact on magic."

Teddy looked confused. "I thought that stuff died out centuries ago. I mean, sure the moon does things to potions, but the other stuff was just made up to confuse the muggles. If they thought that wizards danced buck naked under the full moon, they wouldn't bother to look for broomsticks and cauldrons."

"My mum says that such things are still used to some extent in France, for complicated spells and things. But over there it's mostly a luck thing. But this conjunction is special. For one thing, it's Venus and Mercury—the most powerful—and Jupiter's in the mix too." She stopped short, as a gleam had appeared in James's eyes. She knew that gleam. The last time she'd seen it, she'd spent the following week in detention for being out of bounds.

James leaned forward, feeling pieces start to come together in his mind. "So the conjunction-it's used in old spells, right? Spells from before the Statute of Secrecy. Spells like the ones in the Book of Necromancy! I wonder if there is a reason Bel took it this year? Some dark spell that has to be done using the conjunction?"

Teddy shook his head stubbornly. "I've hit my limit with the conspiracy thing, James. I'm with you that Bel is up to something. I'm with you that she took the Book of Necromancy from the Restricted Section that night. I'm even with you that she somehow is Voldemort's daughter. But if she is actually planning to use the conjunction to do something, that's our problem solved for us. Half the spells in that book don't work- they even tend to blow up in your face. That's why there are so few copies left. Just two. The one in the Department of Mysteries, and the one that used to be in the Hogwarts library. And the one from the Department of Mysteries is missing even more pages then the Hogwarts copy. Any spell that uses the conjunction has got to be in the blow-up-the-caster category. I say we sit back and watch the fireworks!" Teddy leaned back in his seat, a smug expression on his face, confidant of having the last word.

James looked back and forth between his friends, Victoire nodding vigorously, relieved to finally have someone in her corner. "I still say that whatever she's planning will happen during the conjunction. But I never said I thought it would work. I mean the thing is called The Book of Necromancy, and even if there are other spells in it, necromancy has never worked. But if we caught her trying it, she'd be expelled!"

The Great Hall had been emptying for some time, but they hadn't noticed, being so caught up in their argument. They were forced to notice when Professor Toran yelled at the hundred or so students still eating and procrastinating to get a move on. Their argument would have to be continued at another time.

The day passed quickly, although James doggedly restarted the argument again at lunch. However, after rehashing the same points several more times, and ending in a stalemate, he gave up and allowed his friends to finish their meal in peace. A grueling afternoon of Transfiguration and Potions followed lunch. Both teachers had increased the pace of classes in the last few weeks, on the theory that it was never too early to start preparing for exams. Finally, James found himself walking back to the Great Hall for dinner, starving again. When he arrived, he was surprised to find the tables empty of food. This only happened when McGonagall wanted their attention for an announcement of some sort. _Ugh, these tend to last forever,_ James thought, _and I bet it's about exams. Great way to end my day._

Sure enough when all the students had crowded into the hall, and the oak doors had closed, McGonagall stood up and walked to the podium in the center of the dais. "I have an announcement to make about the next Hogsmeade weekend three weeks from now. It primarily concerns first and second years. After much deliberation among the staff and Governors, it has been decided that younger students may visit Hogsmeade if accompanied by an adult guardian."

The hall erupted in cheers from younger students, and annoyed grumbles from older ones. Hogsmeade had always been their special right.

McGonagall held up her hands for silence, waiting until the noise had died back down before continuing. "I would like to remind all students, especially older years, that Hogsmeade is a privilege, attendant on good behavior. To first and second years, remember that this is a trial, and if there are any…incidents…this privilege will be revoked just as quickly as it came. I would advise you to write to your parents, as they will need to inform your Head of House directly relative to their plans. Any questions can be addressed tomorrow to your teachers. Mr. Filch also asked me to remind you that several items available at the Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes are prohibited. An extensive list can be found on his office door. That is all." When she had returned to her seat the tables filled with food, and the hall with noise.

Teddy was conflicted. On one hand, his friends would now be able to join him at Hogsmeade. He was certain that they would be able to scrape up one adult between them. If nothing else, Uncle George would "supervise" them from the joke shop. On the other hand, he hadn't gotten to go before third year; they shouldn't either. Victoire and James felt no such qualms. They were busy planning all the places they were going to explore with their newfound freedom.

"Shrieking Shack!"

"The Three Broomsticks."

"Forget that, The Hog's Head!"

"Don't forget a refill from Uncle George, maybe I could even skive off the Astronomy exam and take it at a normal time!"

Teddy shook his head. _Better resign myself to the inevitable,_ he thought.

Bel was not nearly as sure that one of her guardians would come to take them to Hogsmeade. _Would Uncle Lucius even count,_ she thought. _McGonagall said adult guardian, but she also said parent. I'll ask tomorrow…_ Bel glanced at her friends. Cat looked distinctly glum. "Come on Cat, even if nobody comes to take us, it's not the end of the world. Basically only one more year and we can go on our own."

Cat slumped down, looking miserable. "You'll probably be fine Bel, since you're basically adopted by the Malfoys, and don't have parents. On paper, I actually have parents, even if they never do anything. They wouldn't care if I went or not, and might not bother to read my letters until it was too late. If Thorne is difficult about it, Uncle Lucius won't be able to do anything about it."

Scorpius laughed. "Remember, Grandfather got back on the Board of Governors a couple years ago. They'd let him take you, and the teacher's aren't stupid. They know where you live. Besides even if your parents ignore letters from us, they won't ignore Grandfather. No one does. We won't leave you behind."

Cat brightened, and said, "Really?"

Bel kept her thoughts about the likelihood of them going at all to herself. "Promise. Either we all go, or we all stay here." Dinner ended more quickly than usual-it seemed everyone wanted to write home as quickly as possible. It was unusual enough to write about, even to the older students. Bel was surprised to find letters already waiting for them when they arrived back at the common room. One was on her pillow, and she saw it when she went back to her room to change out of her robes after dinner. The letter was the normal gold on black from home, and it was sealed with the Malfoy crest. What was unusual about it was the location. She had no idea how it had been delivered, but she had long since given up trying to question how Uncle Lucius did anything.

When she was ready to return to the common room, she met Cat at the door, and was unsurprised to find her holding an identical letter, also unopened. They hurried back to meet Scorpius. Their friend had not been as patient, and was already reading his copy. The two girls sat down opposite him on the dark green sofa, and ripped open their envelopes. It was written on creamy parchment, and sure enough, was from Uncle Lucius.

Dear Belladonna,

Tonight the announcement as to the new Hogsmeade Weekend policies was made by the Headmistress. I was aware of the development for some time, and have already made the necessary arrangements. Aunt Narcissa and I will be chaperoning you, Catherine, and Scorpius. Unfortunately, neither Scorpius's parents, or Catherine's parents will be joining us. Aunt Astoria and Uncle Draco send their regrets, and Aunt Astoria asked me to "wish you all a good time." The arrangements have already been cleared with Professor Thorne. We will arrive at Hogwarts at 7 o'clock sharp. Please be waiting at the gates.

Uncle Lucius

She looked up from reading her letter, and saw Scorpius was also done with his. She switched with him, and saw the exact same thing, with a couple of the names switched. Bel handed the letter back, and glanced at Cat's. Again, an almost identical copy. "Nice to know he cares so much about each of us to say such personal, caring things. At least they're showing up to take us."

Cat nodded, still looking slightly crestfallen. "I know I should be glad to be going at all, but a part of me still expects my parents to show, even though they never do."

Bel was startled to see Scorpius shaking his head. "I don't think it mattered whether or not your parents, or my parents for that matter, wanted to come. Grandfather probably decided it would be a bad idea to bring so many ex-Death Eaters. It would scare too many people, and that's not the image he's going for right now. Remember the ice cream? I think for some reason my grandparents wanted to take us—impossible to guess why—but if they're coming, no one else is."

Cat looked slightly mollified, and Bel let out an inner sigh of relief. They would all go, and she wouldn't even need to beg Thorne to let her friend come.

James and Victoire were among those wrote home to their parents that night. With such a big family to juggle, it took a long time to plan things, and nothing was to be gained by wasting time. The adults probably wouldn't even write back for a couple of days.

The Potter family was sitting down to breakfast when they received the owl from Hogwarts. It landed in front of Harry, who narrowly managed to snatch it from the bird before either of his younger children could beat him to it. Albus and Lily were convinced that any letter from their brother belonged to them. At least if Harry or Ginny got letters first, they could edit them a bit.

"Read it out loud!" Lily shouted, her brother nodding vigorously, momentarily distracted from the orange they had been fighting over.

Harry quickly scanned the letter, and decided there was nothing incriminating about it.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I don't know if you've found out yet, but they decided to let first and second years go to Hogsmeade starting this year. The thing is, we've got to have an adult come with us. Victoire has already written to Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill, and if they come, I can go with them if you write and tell Professor Toran it's all right. Or you could come, of course.

Thanks!

James

Albus and Lily immediately started clamoring that they should all go. Harry rubbed his head, where a headache was starting to form.

Ginny smiled at her husband, "You know, Harry, that's not a bad idea. If we went Bill and Fleur wouldn't have to…oh but I have a better idea. We could make it a real family reunion, we haven't seen everybody since Christmas. We could invite Ron and Hermione. Percy and Audrey are abroad, but George and Angelina might come."

"I'll write to everyone tonight, and see who wants to come. We can probably get the rabble to come to an agreement by Friday, and that would give us over a week to make the arrangements with Hogwarts. At least they are all in Gryffindor, so we only have to deal with one head."

Of course it took significantly longer than that to get everyone organized, and owls flurried back and forth between the families for well over a week. By the end, it had turned into something that was not quite a family reunion. Bill and Fleur had declined to come, but Ron and Hermione were quite enamored with the idea, and were planning to bring Rose and Hugo. George had been planning to be in Hogsmeade anyway to attend the shop during the influx of Hogwarts students, but Angelina had elected to stay home. Neville and Luna were also going to come down from the castle, and Oliver Wood was going to think about it.

The letter from home took long enough to arrive that James and Victoire were beginning to grow nervous, and Teddy was starting to gloat that he would just have to leave them behind. But three days before the start of the weekend, the Potter family owl swooped over the Gryffindor table during breakfast to deliver the long-awaited letter from home.

Dear James and Victoire,

I'm sorry this took so long, but making plans in this family is never as simple as it seems. Of course we will come so you can go to Hogsmeade, and I have already written to Professor Toran to take care of the official permissions and things. However, we will be bringing Albus and Lily with us. I know you love your siblings, but all the same, sorry James it was unavoidable. Victoire, your parents were not able to come, but on the other hand Dominique and Louis will not be joining us either. Also, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione will be bringing Rose and Hugo. Neville and Luna are planning to come, as well as your Uncle George, although he would have been there anyway to mind the shop. We can't wait to see you three again!

Love,

Dad/Uncle Harry

James read the letter and passed it to Victoire, grinning. Victoire quickly skimmed it, and also broke into a smile of relief. They were officially going to Hogsmeade. The rest of the week flew by, and even the Astronomy exam the night before Hogsmeade was not as awful as it would have been otherwise. James even thought that he had managed to scrape a passing score—watching three little lights creep closer together in the sky was not as hard as he had expected it to be.

Bel also thought that the exam wasn't that bad. In fact, it was quite easy. All Sinistra wanted was the positions of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter, and a sappy essay about the importance of conjunctions to the wizarding world. In Bel's opinion the value was nil, but by now she knew to write what a professor wanted to hear. Even Cat left the tower happy. She had won her Gobstone match earlier, and was going to play in the semifinals—an amazing accomplishment for a first year, even one trained by Lucius Malfoy. For years Uncle Lucius had tried to teach Bel and Scorpius to play, but had eventually given up as they were both dismal at it. Cat, however, was his shining pupil. Bel had noticed that Cat always seemed to do better after a bout of Gobstones, and might have had something to do with the box of Wildfire Whizzbangs that had gone off in the empty Transfiguration classroom—the location that had been scheduled to house the match the day before—forcing it to be postponed to right before the Astronomy Exam the next day.

The exam had lasted until midnight, and Cat and Scorpius soon went to bed, while Bel curled up in the corner of the common room with a book on dragons. Since Christmas break, she had discovered that the library contained books that were interesting in their own right, not just because they promised to tell her secrets. In the last few months she had plowed through most of the magical creatures section, and was planning to start on magical history soon. Goblin riots sounded interesting. She was the only younger year left in the common room, and the older students had congregated on the couches by the emerald fire. Unfortunately, Jacob was one of them. She had never liked the Head Boy, even though he had been exceptionally nice to her. Perhaps that was why—he seemed only to be nice when he wanted something.

Jacob's girlfriend, Astrid, was complaining as usual. "Come on, can we please spend tomorrow together? We always used to, but you've just been too busy for me lately. It's our _last_ Hogsmeade Weekend together, and you don't want to see me at all!"

Bel sighed inwardly. This would not end well. It never did when Astrid wanted something that Jacob wasn't going to give, and it seemed to be happening almost every week now. Last time she had set one of the tapestries in the common room on fire, and all the first and second years had had to run for it until Jacob had bothered to put it out.

"I told you, I already have plans for tomorrow, and you can't come. Just find something to do on your own for once!" Jacob replied, making a valiant attempt to remain calm.

Bel curled up tighter around her book, trying to remain invisible in the corner. It was shaping into a nasty one. Astrid was on her feet now, screaming shrilly at her boyfriend, and even the other seventh years looked uncomfortable.

"I can't believe you are just abandoning me like this! Is whatever stupid experiment you're working on in that nasty cave really more important than me? I hate you!"

One of Astrid's friends, a girl named Valis, tried to calm her down, taking her hand and attempting to lead her back to the dorms. "It's going to be all right, Astrid. You can come to The Three Broomsticks tomorrow with me and Cassie. We don't need any boys, we can have a good time all on our own."

Astrid pulled away from her friend, still screaming at Jacob. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! I'm going to burn your stupid cave to the ground, then you'll pay attention to me again!"

Bel saw Jacob shoot to his feet out of the corner of her eye as she peeked over the top of her book. "You will do no such thing, stupid girl! I have been working on "my little project" for over a year now, and you will leave it alone now that it's finished. And by the way, it is far more important than you will ever be, so stay out of my way tomorrow!" He stormed out of the common room leaving a ringing silence in his wake.

The peace did not last for long, and soon Astrid was being hauled out of the room, sobbing between her two friends. The few seventh years left soon after that, and Bel had the common room all to herself for a blessed hour, before her eyes were drooping too much to read the minuscule print on the thick parchment of her book.

 _Tomorrow I will see my first wizarding village, and actually get to visit the joke shop that Cat and Scorpius had been talking about for years, even if it is a pale imitation of the one in Diagon Alley._ She climbed into her four poster bed, and fell asleep as the planets continued to creep closer together in the night sky, observed only by Professor Sinistra, who could only think that she would be robbed of the view of closest approach by the bright mid-afternoon sunlight the next day.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen available now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress**

 **Chapters will be posted every Sunday until completion**


	13. Hogsmeade

Hogsmeade

The Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade weekend dawned clear and chilly. Teddy burst into James's dorm only moments after sunrise, and shook him roughly to wake him. "If you want breakfast we have to go now. Your parents will be here in an hour. Hurry…Victoire is already in the common room!" He yanked the covers off James's bed and left the room before the pillow James threw could hit him in the back.

James sat up in bed, yawning. For a few seconds he could not understand why Teddy had been in his room yelling at him. Then a bolt of adrenaline ran through his veins, and he remembered. Today we get to go to Hogsmeade! James shot out of bed, threw on a t-shirt and jeans, and raced down the spiral staircase to the common room. Blinking sleep out of his eyes, James saw the normally cozy space full of students making their way down to breakfast, and Victoire and Teddy waiting by the portrait hole. James pushed through the knot of Griffindors and followed his friends down to the Great Hall. The large doors out onto the lawn were open, and a steady stream of students was filing through them on their way to Filch and the wrought iron gates.

James, Teddy, and Victoire sat down at an empty stretch of the Gryffindor table. "We're supposed to be at the gates at 7:00 to meet Mum and Dad, right?" asked James blearily.

"Yes. It's in half an hour, but we should really have left ages ago if we want to be at the front of Filch's line by then," Victoire babbled excitedly as she scarfed down a plate of eggs and sausages.

James groaned and pushed back his plate of toast. Taking a last swig of Pumpkin Juice he replied, "We'd better go then. Mum will kill us if we're late. She'll think we were eaten by a monster or something. Come on guys."

Teddy grinned. "I think I'll stay here and finish a leisurely breakfast. You two go on ahead. I'll catch up later, because I don't need a chaperone." He scooped a grapefruit onto his plate and began peeling it slowly.

"Oh no you don't!" growled Victoire. She grabbed his collar and started to haul him off the bench.

Teddy put up a token struggle, but when James grabbed his arm the elder cousin allowed himself to be dragged a few steps from the table before he shrugged them off and began walking on his own. It took them ages before they made it to the front of the line, which stretched all the way from the gates to halfway across the lawn. It moved fairly quickly, which puzzled Teddy. "Normally this takes a lot longer than this, and loads more people are going this time. I wonder what's going on with Filch. Normally he interrogates everyone before crossing them off the list."

Soon they could see why. Filch was using a Quick-Quotes Quill to cross students off the large scroll of parchment. All the first and second years were being herded into a corral by a harried looking prefect. Another prefect, an irritable Hufflepuff named Lilah Natare, was dealing with a line of parents, allowing them to pull their charges out of the roped off area.

When they reached the front of the line Filch barked "Name" without looking up, but his expression turned sour as he looked up and saw them. "Ahh Potter, Weasley, and Lupin. Three names I've heard often enough before," Filch snarled, and Mrs. Huxley hissed as she wound around her master's legs. He smirked maliciously and motioned them to move on. "Potter and Weasley into the kindercage. Lupin, on your way."

Teddy, who had never really intended to be left behind, opened his mouth and started to protest. "Please Mr. Filch, I'll never find them again in this crowd. Just let me go with them, I'm supposed to be meeting my family…er their family…my godparents too!"

Filch cackled. "Rules are rules Mr. Lupin. First and second years in the cage, third years and above along the path. If I made an exception for every student with ideas about how to run this place, nothing'd ever get done. I said move along!" The harried looking prefect motioned James and Victoire through the hole in the ropes. "Hey Lupin, just go wait over by the parent gate, that's what all the other siblings are doing. Filch just loves to make everyone as bloody miserable as he is!"

James and Victoire pushed through the mass of students along the edge of the too-small corral, and Teddy walked on the other side of the ropes until they were close enough to see the front of the shorter line of parents and families waiting to claim their younger members. The line moved slowly as Lilah was forced to fish out each student from the group before the line could move forward. They watched this process for a few minutes before Victoire felt James's back stiffen beside her. "What is it," she turned to ask, only to see him staring at another spot in the crowd.

"Bel and her lackeys are just on the other side of the gate," he spat. "I told you that they were going to use the stupid conjunction thingie for something!"

Victoire only sighed and shook her head, but Teddy took the bait. "Come on James, basically every first and second year managed to scrape up an adult to take them. Wouldn't it have been easier to conduct her "nefarious plot" in an empty castle, instead of a little town filled to bursting?"

James did not deign to answer, but continued to stare for several minutes. Soon, James spotted his Dad's head over the crowd, and a moment later saw Uncle Ron standing next to him. Bel momentarily forgotten, he nudged his friends and began to wave at his parents. Another few families and they were at the front of the line. However, before they could speak, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy strolled up the line. "Malfoy, Black, and Goyle," he said coldly.

"BLACK, MALFOY, GOYLE!" yelled Lilah in response.

"There is a line you know," James could hear Aunt Hermione mutter, not amused in the least at being pushed to the side at the last moment.

"Rank hath its privileges, Weasley, and I am a school governor," replied Lucius smoothly, with an icy smile.

"Why they ever let rubbish like you back on the board I'll never know," spat Uncle Ron.

Lucius Malfoy was not fazed in the least. "The Malfoy family has produced school governors for centuries. We have always been welcome, unlike some."

"Name," said Lilah, moving on to the next family in the line. She then looked up, "Never mind. POTTER AND WEASLEY BRATS! FRONT AND CENTER!"

James and Victoire pushed their way the last few yards to the gate just as Bel, Cat, and Scorpius departed with the Malfoys. They were greeted by tight hugs all around, moving in a tight knot out of the way of the line. They had begun to walk away when Uncle Ron, who was in front stopped short at a hissing noise. "It's Mrs. Norris," he whispered in alarm, as Filch's cat stood in their path.

"Don't be silly Ron, it can't be Mrs. Norris. She must have died years ago. He must have gotten another cat," said Aunt Hermione.

"I don't know Hermione, it sure seems to recognize us…" said Dad, pulling on James's hand to make him avoid the cat in their path.

"I always said it was a demon," muttered Uncle Ron. "He probably just renames the thing every twenty years so no one gets suspicious." He aimed a kick at the cat who merely hissed defiantly and shot away.

"That thing always gave me the creeps," James's mum said to him. "They should have just let it stay petrified. Honestly, everybody would have been better off."

James's younger siblings, Lily and Albus, and his cousins, Rose and Hugo, mobbed James and his friends as they walked down the path to Hogsmeade. The sight of the castle had rekindled the fire of curiosity about the school in their heads, even more so than at Christmas. Rose and Albus seemed to have the most questions, as they were only a few months away from going off to Hogwarts themselves.

After perhaps ten minutes of walking, the pitched roofs of the little village rose cheerfully over the trees. The snug hamlet was filled with students from the castle and their families. Everywhere the family wandered stares and whispers followed them, but now James at least understood why. Harry kept up a heroic pretense of obliviousness, and the younger children seemed actually not to notice the attention at all. How could I ever have been so thick, wondered James as the line at Honeydukes shifted to allow the Potters to the front of the line. Perhaps they are so used to it that they don't question why our family appears to be the center of the universe.

As they left, one of the picnic tables outside of the store emptied just as Harry mentioned that they were looking for one. The family plopped down, and the children started examining their loot from the sweetshop. Lily had insisted on buying blood-flavored lollypops, but immediately spat the first one out onto the ground. Albus had gone for the Pepper Imps, but was only managing to shoot sparks out of his mouth. James had confined his purchases to some chocolate frogs, as he preferred to actually enjoy his candy.

The morning passed in a blur as they wandered from shop to shop, stopping in to meet Uncle George at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The Potters and Weasleys stocked up on "essential school supplies" from the storeroom. Even the younger children were given some loot by their uncle, mostly extendable ears, trick wands, and replacement Headless Hats. The Hogwarts-aged cousins chose mostly Skiving Snack Boxes, although Uncle George slipped them some Peruvian Instant-Darkness Powder, and Decoy Detonators upon Teddy's reques,t when the visiting adults were otherwise occupied. He also gave James the latest version of an enchanted iPod to test at Hogwarts. The earlier models had all exploded the second the muggle devices entered the grounds, and Teddy and Victoire had refused to test another. After passing the Shrieking Shack, they walked back through the town to The Three Broomsticks for some lunch. Aunt Hermione had hoped to beat the crowd, but although the restaurant was jammed, the proprietress managed to find the Potters a table in the corner. Neville, Luna, and even Oliver Wood met them at the inn, and the adults began to talk about old times.

Conversation flew thick and fast, concentrating on the current news of the extended Dumbledore's Army family. "Where's Rasphydelia?" asked Ginny.

"She's at her great-grandmother's house for the week. They like spending time together, and they only have so much time before she starts Hogwarts," replied Luna.

Lunch was delicious, and served quickly despite the crowd. Soon the younger members of the family had finished eating. "Dad, can Victoire and I go with Teddy to keep exploring?" James begged. "Toran won't care; they just didn't want to be responsible for us."

"Please, Please let us go too!" begged Lilly. "We'll be good and everything!" Her brother Albus immediately backed her up, which caused Rose and Hugo to argue that if their cousins were going it wasn't fair for them to be left behind.

"Well…" replied Harry. "I don't know… I suppose there will be plenty of people around."

"Just let them go, Harry," said Ginny. "If they stay here we'll never be able to talk, and they'll drag us back out within ten minutes. As far as I'm concerned, they can take Albus and Lily. Hermione, what do you think? Can Rose and Hugo go if they promise to behave?"

Hermione laughed and said, "There's not much trouble they can get in. Let them go. Teddy, Victoire, and James can deal with them for the afternoon!"

"That wasn't exactly what he meant," protested Victoire weakly, glancing at James and Teddy, who were not looking overly pleased.

"That's the final offer. Either you three stay here, or take the younger ones with you, and keep them out of trouble," countered Ron quickly, before Victoire could start to bargain for their freedom from babysitting duties.

Teddy, Victoire, and James held a quick whispered conference at their end of the table. "Fine," spoke Teddy. "On one condition. Tell them we are in charge, and they have to listen to us. They can't just run off in any direction they want to go, knowing we have to follow or it will be our skins." Victoire glared at her cousins, remembering clearly several such unpleasant incidents.

"Good," said Harry. "You heard them. Either agree to them being in charge, or stay here for the afternoon. Oh, and be back here by four. We'll meet you then, and take you back up to the castle."

"We'll do what they say," sighed Rose. "But I want it on record, that I object to James being one of the ones in charge, I'm only seven months younger." "And when you are in Hogwarts you can boss your younger brother to your heart's content, if you want babysitting duty-but for now, listen to your cousins," replied her mother.

Bel, Cat, and Scorpius had also had a wonderful morning exploring Hogsmeade, although Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius had seemed a little distracted. At Honeydukes, Bel had never seen so much candy in one place and had bought one of nearly everything to try, although she was skeptical about the Bat's Blood Soup. Uncle Lucius actually went inside of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes this time, but Bel was too distracted to appreciate it. There seemed to be something interesting on every shelf, and her mind buzzed with all the things she could do with Fanged Frisbees and Portable Swamps.

Cat and Bel quickly filled the basket Scorpius was holding with the curious items. Even Cat and Scorpius were not immune to the wonder of it all, although they had seen a Wheezes shop before. Uncle Lucius spoiled a bit of their fun by vetoing several of the items in the basket, including Edible Dark Marks, Dragon Fire and Bel's Portable Swamp. They still made it out of the shop with enough packages that Aunt Narcissa was forced to send the parcels zooming up to the castle so that they could walk freely.

It was already past noon when they started walking back towards The Three Broomsticks to have lunch. Although late, the first floor of the inn was still crowded with students and families eating lunch. Uncle Lucius gave the girl at the counter a gold coin, and an open table was quickly found, but it was not to his liking.

"Look the Death Eaters are back," spat a voice from a corner table cloaked in shadows.

Bel was startled to see the group of witches and wizards that had seemed to belong to those Gryffindors. Except James, Victoire, and Teddy were not present. Neither were the younger ginger haired children. Professor Longbottom had joined them, but he was looking distinctly less jovial than he always did in class.

"Look, the peasants are here," replied Uncle Lucius, ignoring Aunt Narcissa tugging half-heartedly on his robes.

The red-headed man was about to speak again, but the one that looked like James elbowed him in the ribs. "As much as I would love an excuse to raid your Manor, let's not start trouble in the middle of everything. Come on, we can move this to the Hog's Head for old time's sake. We can still be back here by four to meet them." He dragged his friend out the door, followed by the rest of the party.

Uncle Lucius drew back a chair for Aunt Narcissa with a self-satisfied smile on his face. The nasty looks from the other patrons seemed to bounce right off him. Bel, Cat, and Scorpius ate quickly, sharing the same longing to be away from the glares. "Why don't you three take the rest of the afternoon to yourselves," said Aunt Narcissa. "You are perfectly capable of taking care of yourselves for an afternoon."

The three shared a startled look. The older Slytherins had not allowed Bel out of their sight in the year she had been out of hiding, but perhaps they were finally relaxing the restrictions a bit.

"We have something to look into this afternoon," continued Uncle Lucius. "Just remember to start back to the castle in time to be back by five."

The three youngsters quickly left before the adults could change their minds. They walked down the short main street of the village, and took a little hiking path through the woods at the edge of town into a little meadow that could be seen from the taller towers of Hogwarts. Bel had wanted to see that area up close since spotting it in Astronomy.

There was a little stream flowing through it, carrying snowmelt from the surrounding mountains. They climbed onto boulders speckling the stream, and eventually settled on a large sunlit rock. "Anything else you two want to do today?"asked Scorpius yawning.

"We could try to break into the shack," suggested Cat, as she attempted to pull one of the minnows swimming around their rock from the icy water.

"Probably not the best day for that," replied Bel. "Too many people that haven't gawked at it yet. Another weekend when it's not so crowded would be better. I wonder if it's still haunted."

"I wish we still had that Fanged Frisbee, but it's already at the castle," mused Scorpius, looking out over the empty vista of the meadow.

Bel heard voices in the woods, laughing and coming closer. "Hey, shut up! I hear somebody! Is this technically out of bounds?"

"I don't think so," said Cat. "It's only a couple hundred feet out of town. We can't be the first people to see it from the castle."

Teddy led Victoire and James through the path to his meadow, with the rest of the kids trailing behind. He had discovered it with a couple of his third year friends when they had gotten lost on their way back to the castle at the beginning of the first term. "Come on, just a few more yards! It's the size of a Quidditch pitch—no trees at all—perfect for Fanged Frisbees!" Teddy was the first through the last of the trees onto the grass, but he stopped short, preventing anyone else from seeing the meadow. "Come on, let's find somewhere else. There's a field behind the Shrieking Shack…"

James pushed past his friend, "What's wrong? I don't want to go all the way back to the shack—it's halfway across town!" He saw three figures standing on top of a pile of boulders close to the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. He squinted, and saw that they were the three Slytherins.

He stepped into the clearing, and yelled "What are you doing here? Finally showing your true colors and practicing Dark Magic?"

Scorpius tilted his head attempting to make out the tiny figure, "Isn't that the Potter kid? Either of you make out what he's yelling?"

Cat shook her head. "Don't think we'll have to strain for long, he's coming toward us." She waved reluctantly at the rapidly approaching figure. The others trailed in his wake.

After being ignored by Bel on the rock, James became incensed and took off toward them at a sprint. Soon he was not far from their rock, and he began to yell again. "Hey Riddle! Yes, I mean you! Give me the book right now, and I might forget that you three were all alone out here right before the conjunction!" James felt Victoire and Teddy run up behind him, no longer trying to shut him up.

The three figures on top of the rock froze at his words, the Gryffindor's antics no longer amusing. "He knows, he knows!" whispered Cat in a panic, and Scorpius was visibly shaking as he stood next to Bel.

She took a deep breath and replied calmly, "Why are you going on about the astronomy thing…and what book? You know our names-we've been in classes together all year. Who's Riddle?" She gave the figures in the meadow what she hoped was a winning smile. As Bel spoke Cat managed to calm down, and was now looking sincere and confused, following the party line.

It was Teddy who replied this time. "You know perfectly well what your real name is- whatever the teachers think. We followed you to the Restricted Section the night you stole the Book of Necromancy, so we know you have it. Just give it back and I'll make sure James forgets this ever happened."

Bel was genuinely confused this time, actually taking the time to think about all the words, instead of just the incriminating name. "What are they talking about…that book everyone was freaked out about going missing months ago? And what does any of this have to do with Sinistra's conjunction," she whispered to Scorpius.

"I have no idea, but I didn't take the stupid book. Its spells don't work anyway!" replied Scorpius quickly under his breath.

"You talk to them. Maybe they'll drop the Riddle thing. Distract them with the book!"

Scorpius took Bel's place at the front of the boulder. "We never took the Book, and we've never been in the Restricted Section, which you would know if you bothered to check the records," he said reasonably. "Besides," he drawled "you don't actually believe that stuff about the conjunctions, because that would make you even more stupid than you look."

Victoire shoved Teddy aside. "Don't insult my friends. You know perfectly well why you don't show up on the records! We followed you there that night, and got caught by Jacob and given detention for our trouble. You've had the book since first term!"

"We weren't in the library to take the Book of Necromancy!" blurted Cat. "Besides that was weeks before it went missing!"

"You admit you were there!" shouted James. "We know that the Book was missing a lot longer than the teachers admitted. Hagrid told us! Just tell us what you did with it."

Bel sighed inwardly. Time for a judicious amount of truth-telling. "Yes, we broke into the Restricted Section, but we weren't there for the Book of Necromancy. We were looking for _An Account of the Second Wizarding War: The Movements and Atrocities of Death Eaters._ And we didn't even get it. Jacob chased us out before we got more than three steps into the Section. He was there studying or something."

Victoire turned as red as the inside of her robes. "You were breaking into the Restricted Section after curfew and all he did was throw you out? He gave us to Filch and we got detention for a week!"

Cat laughed. "He always liked Bel for some reason. She said we got lost, and he just told us not to do it again!"

"Wait!" called James. "The book had to have been taken that night, even if the teachers didn't figure out about it until later. After we got caught and the mess was discovered, Pince put up wards all over the place. It would be impossible to have taken anything after that. None of you took it?"

"No," replied Scorpius. "We barely got through the door, let alone taking a book from the most heavily guarded shelf!"

"Okay." said Victoire slowly. "If you didn't take it, or even make the connection with the conjunction-and we certainly didn't take it-who did?"

A conversation overheard late at night in the common room suddenly replayed itself in Bel's ears. "We weren't the only ones in the library that night. Jacob was there too. He's in seventh year, and the Head Boy. If anyone could make the spells in that book work, he could. Has anyone seen him in Hogsmeade today? I saw him on the path down, but not after that."

Everyone shook their heads, but suddenly a high voice piped up from the back of the group on the ground. Lily, whom everyone had forgotten about in the excitement asked, "Is he a tall blonde boy? I saw someone leaving the other side of town early this morning!"

Bel smiled. "Yes he is, and I think someone inadvertently told me where he was going. His girlfriend, Astrid, got into an argument with him one night in the common room, and she said he was doing something in a cave near town. Anyone know where that could be?"

James locked eyes with Bel. "My father tells stories about his Godfather who once hid in a cave near Hogsmeade. I bet that's where it is. They are in The Three Broomsticks. We could grab them on the way, and they would at least come take a look!"

"That's not going to work," said Scorpius. "They left The Three Broomsticks, and I don't think they were coming back. I don't remember where they said they were going." He glanced at Bel and Cat, neither of whom spoke.

"Come down off the rock," said James. He then turned to his siblings and cousins. "You can wait at The Three Broomsticks if we don't find the parents there."

"You can't leave us behind," spat Albus.

"Not since you told us where you were going. Besides the more people the better," continued Rose.

Bel, Cat, and Scorpius had slid off the boulder while the others were arguing. They moved towards the family cautiously, still not completely trusting them. They ran down the path back to Hogsmeade, slowing down only when they reached the crowded streets. Pushing through the crowds, they reached The Three Broomsticks and opened the doors onto the still-crowded restaurant. After scanning the tables quickly, James walked up to the girl behind the bar. "Are my parents here?" he asked, not bothering to identify himself after the display earlier.

"No," she replied. "They said they'd be back at four if you asked. Go on and have fun." She turned away only to meet the eyes of another first year.

"What about my Aunt and Uncle?" queried Bel. "You remember them. He gave you gold for a quick table."

"I remember them too. They drove out the Potters. Odd to see all of you together, but they aren't here either. They left just after you did. Now go away, we're busy!"

The ten students scrambled back outside the door and onto the curb. "Come on," James hissed, pulling Teddy into the alley next to the restaurant. The others followed in a clump, effectively blocking the view from the street. James looked up and glared at Bel, Cat and Scorpius. "I got this at Christmas, and if you ever tell anyone about this, I will hunt you down and kill you." He pulled out the worn parchment of the Marauders' Map and whispered the words. Ink flowed across the paper.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Scorpius's eyes were the size of galleons. "It's called the Marauders' Map, and if any DA members went back to the castle, it will help us find them. We'd better hope somebody's still at Hogwarts, because it doesn't show Hogsmeade, and we'll never find them in this mess." He started pulling open the panels of the map, handing them to the others and spreading the map across the alley saying, "Everyone take a section and try and find someone useful."

"This is how you found out about me, isn't it?" Bel asked as she scanned the third floor corridor.

"It shows the full name of anyone that steps onto the grounds. We saw you within minutes of coming back from the holidays," replied James testily. "Exactly how long did you think you could get away with it? And how is it even possible?"

"Toran's not in her office," she said before continuing. "I didn't know, none of us knew. We knew that the adults were lying to us. We knew it wasn't normal to delay starting school for two years, and then lie about it, but we didn't know why…not until we broke into Uncle Lucius's office over Christmas."

It took several minutes to search the map, but eventually they had to give up. None of the parents had gone back to the castle, and McGonagall and Toran were nowhere to be found. "We'll just have to go ourselves," insisted James, refolding the parchment and putting it back in his pocket.

They ran through the back alleys of the town, making much better time than they had on the main streets earlier. Soon the houses and shops petered out, and they reached the bottom of the foothills on the far side of Hogsmeade.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen available now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress**


	14. The Cave

The Cave

Teddy, being the oldest, led the group as they plunged deeper into the hilly territory. Though he had never been this far and had only a very vague idea of where to go, he had an indescribable hunch that they were on the right path. The children delved deeper and deeper until the ground became steeper. Suddenly, the rolling hills of the valley turned into low mountain foothills. They had been trudging along for quite a while, and sweat was dripping from their bodies, which were adjusting to the thinning air. Teddy himself was already quite weary, but he saw that the youngest, Hugo and Lily, were just barely keeping up. He turned around, causing the whole troop to stop, hauled Lily over his left shoulder and took Hugo's hand, forcing the group to go at his pace. The two children were quite grateful for the short respite. However, the fact remained, they must arrive before the conjunction.

Victoire worried as they marched forward. She knew Teddy was strong, but she wasn't sure that he could bear the smallest children's weight—even one at a time—for long. She was also battling concerns about what lay ahead. _Even if they did make it up the hill without a scratch—which was highly unlikely—what would they face inside the cave? How would they protect their younger family members?_ Even though she was usually optimistic, their odds seemed grim. However, she knew it wasn't helpful to dwell on these thoughts and pushed them from her mind. Victoire squeezed Teddy's other hand, sending him her support, and he grinned back at her. His warmth spread through her even in the most unfortunate of circumstances. He looked at her as if to say "I know, it's all going to be okay", but then he stopped in his tracks. His face hardened as he stared off into the vast horizon of green mountains. Victoire turned around to look in the same direction and she saw it, too. Up in the distance, perhaps two Quidditch fields away, stood the mouth of a cave. It was small-barely noticeable-but it was there. Teddy and Victoire both pointed to it, and setting Hugo down, the group took off at a run.

Bel felt like she might just puke up a lung. She was small and agile, but not used to prolonged periods of physical exertion. Cat and Scorpius weren't faring much more impressively; they both looked like they could faint at any moment. None of them dared to stop, and none of them were willing to give up before the Gryffindors did. Bel heaved as she scurried along, desperately running towards the far-off cave. Although she still couldn't quite wrap her head around everything that had already happened this year, she decided this took the cauldron cake-climbing up a mountain with the likes of James Potter and his friends in attempts to stop Slytherin Head Boy, Jacob Zagyva, from using the Book of Necromancy! It was absurd enough to be a dream, but she knew this had to be real. Even her imagination would have a hard time cooking this up.

It seemed to take ages for the children to make their way up to the cave, entering a much more densely forested part of the mountains. They had to watch out for the thick layer of roots that twisted and tangled above ground. They were constantly stabbed by thorns, branches and the occasional root. Eventually, the cave grew to be only a hundred meters away. The gang continued their journey up the hill until they heard a terrible rumbling. It grew louder and louder, until Scorpius and James were convinced that it must be a giant. It sounded about as terrifying. The two looked up fearfully, and saw something surprising.

Bouncing down the hill were some of the largest boulders James had ever seen. They were roughly hewn, with juts that resembled blades, and must have been about four meters across. When they hit the ground, they left enormous indentations in the earth that resembled small craters. They were literally bouncing down the hill at a crushing speed, straight towards the ten petrified children. Just then, Rose had an idea. She noticed the boulders seemed to fall into the same holes already created by their brethren.

"LOOK! THERE'S A PATTERN! EVERYONE NEEDS TO AVOID THE CRATERS!" Rose shouted, trying to bring the others to their senses. She ran out and flattened herself onto a piece of untouched ground where boulders would not fall. She gestured for the others to follow her lead. As the boulders approached, James crouched down in one of her vacated havens, and Scorpius, Cat, and Bel took another a few meters away. Teddy sent Hugo up to James while keeping Lily with him and Victoire—the gaps were not quite big enough to hold four. Tears were leaking from her eyes as Teddy made sure she kept as close to the ground as possible. Lily kept shaking her head, watching as the boulders bounced around and occasionally above them. Teddy was anxious at first, when it seemed as if she simply would not listen. Then he panicked, his hair and eyes a blazing, and he resorted to yelling at her.

"LILY, LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW!" he yelled. "If you want to live you need to keep your head down, understand? NOW!"

Lily nodded her head, finally hugging the ground willingly when she realized, as did the rest, that a boulder was hurtling straight at them. Victoire was the only one who had a clear view of the boulder's path and just as it was about to hit, she yanked Teddy and Lily a few inches toward her, saving them from the boulder's wrath. It may have been all in her head but she could've sworn she'd heard a muffled groan as the boulder flew above them. She let out a blood curdling scream, fearful for Teddy's fate. She buried her face in the ground as the boulders bounced overhead, still screaming, but too afraid to look up. Each boulder's crunching thud made her heart beat faster. She couldn't bring herself to turn her head and see if Teddy had been crushed by the boulder or not. She stayed stock still , tears streaming down her cheeks, as the rest of the wave of boulders bounded down the side of the mountain. With each one, she felt less and less confident that Teddy was alive. All she knew was that he couldn't die…she didn't know how she could possibly get along without him…her best friend in the entire world.

Finally, the boulders ceased and Victoire raised her head slowly. Her vision was blurred by tears and she had to wipe them away repeatedly before she could survey the area. It seemed that all the first years, along with Hugo and Rose, remained safe. They were all covered in dirt, especially the young ones whose faces were smeared with brown, but nonetheless, they were safe. Then, she forced herself to look to her right at Teddy and Lily. She saw Lily first, looking quite frightened but alive. Then she met eyes with Teddy. He forced a smile as he got up uneasily, wincing, and she could see why. The back of his shirt was half torn off and he was badly scratched by the rock, bleeding dark red onto the brown dirt. She couldn't stand to see him in pain—it looked like it hurt like hell. However, to her greatest relief, other than that, he looked fine. She let out a sigh of relief and began to cry even harder.

"TEDDY!" she ran, throwing her arms around his neck, careful to avoid the gash in his back.

"What is it Vic? C'mere, you're shaking." He embraced her tightly.

In that moment, she forgave him all his snide remarks of the past. She hugged Lily quickly and then backed up. Teddy saw the tears streaming down her cheeks and pulled her closer to him again, wiping them away.

Victoire finally found words. "I-I-I thought the b-b-boulder had f-f-finished you. Don't e-ever scare m-me like that again, Edward Remus Lupin! I've n-never been so s-scared in m-my entire life!"

The oldest boy smiled as he wrapped her up in another hug. "Don't worry, Torie, I'm not going anywhere."

Lily had wrapped herself around Teddy's leg. "I'm sorry Teddy, it's all my fault! I'm sorry I got so scared. I promise I'll be brave for you next time."

Teddy helped Lily up as the others reached them. "It's okay, Lilly. I know you will. Actually, now would be nice!"

They looked behind them to see another obstacle. The roots in the ground had started writhing out of the ground. They were behaving more like tentacles than roots, and were trying to grab anything that touched them. One had already attempted to attach itself to Hugo's leg. All at once, the ten children took off sprinting ahead, stumbling along the way, but none of them dared fall or let their foot stay in one place longer than a heartbeat. The tangled mass of roots would surely engulf them if they slowed their pace. Bel herself caught a foot on a rock and began to sink deeper into trouble. She shook at a root that was attached to her leg as she hopped on one foot to avoid being captured. Finally, she freed herself, only to trip over another root. She let out a scream as she tried to wriggle free and realized that the root had curled around her knee. Soon, she would be completely engulfed, gone forever.

James heard her scream and looked behind him. He saw the roots coiling around her, like living ropes, but what struck him the most was the look of terror on her face. _This whole year that girl has been my sworn enemy but look at what's happened! In one day, everything has been yanked out from under me._ He knew that whatever he decided to do today would cement things, probably forever. He could keep going-another few meters and he would be out of the living carpet-or he could go back for the girl who had made his first year hell, and probably get both of them killed. In that instant, he wheeled around and made what he would later argue was the second smartest decision of his entire life.

Letting his feet fall on the ground for as little time as possible, he ran back to her squirming form and pulled her with an urgency and unknown strength from the roots, never allowing his feet to stay still. For a deadly moment, she stood stunned before he grabbed her hand and pulled her forward at top speed.

"C'mon!" he yelled as the pair stumbled along, almost recaptured by the twisting roots several times.

As Victoire ran alongside Teddy, Lily and Hugo not far behind, she scrambled to reach for her wand. Her heart seemed to skip several beats as she pulled it from her pocket and brandished it in the air.

Summoning as much energy as she could, she aimed at the dreadful roots and yelled at the top of her lungs, " _PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!_ "

At once, the plants ground to a halt, giving the crowd a chance to breathe. By this point, they were all extremely on edge, and their heartbeats sounded about as loud as the boulders had. They marched forward, all wary of the next threat that seemed inevitably headed their way. James and Bel walked in sync up the hillside.

"That was really, really close. So, um, thanks for saving me. It was really nice of you." Bel murmured awkwardly.

James merely nodded. "Just didn't want to see you die before I could turn you over to Filch, is all."

"Imagine my tombstone. It would read 'Death By Root.' I don't thing I could ever live that one down." Bel smiled. James chuckled ruefully at Bel's remark. Their eyes met, and both of them knew that something had fundamentally shifted. James's feeling had been correct—the moment had changed things forever. They could never truly be enemies—or even hate each other—ever again. Bel sent James an uneasy smile and they continued on in silence. They plodded forward persistently for a few precious minutes before being disturbed again.

Then, they heard a clicking noise ring through the air. They stopped in their tracks and looked around, not seeing anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. The clicking sounds grew louder and louder. At once, the light filtering through the leaves became dimmer, as if night were approaching. Soon they were surrounded by a horde of giant spiders which spun webs through the canopy, blocking out the light.

Although none of them liked spiders, Rose and Hugo were especially frightened, having heard one too many stories from their father about the spiders that lived in the Forbidden two huddled together, useless and whimpering. Scorpius briefly considered joining them. Hehad not signed up to fight spiders the size of a carriage. Suddenly, the spiders all clicked their mandibles together in a raspy, rattling sound.

"Are they laughing at us?" Cat whispered to Scorpius.

"Yes, we are, child." The largest—and certainly the most terrifying—of the spiders stepped forward.

Cat gulped as it advanced upon her. Its giant hairy legs halted inches in front of her terrified face and the spider's black, beady eyes locked onto hers. At this point, Victoire wanted to pull out her wand and try another go at the freezing charm, but she knew she'd more likely be someone's lunch before she had the time. James realized they were dead meat—quite literally—unless they could somehow manage to talk their way out of this spider debacle.

"Hello! I'm James. Who are you?" James directed his question at the largest spider.

The spider rattled "I am Adaxon, leader of this clan and son of Aragog. I fail to see how this little introduction is going to do you or your little friends any good. The other human gave us this land in exchange for eating anyone else who dares come here-something we would have gladly done without prompting."

James's head spun, He knew he'd heard the name Aragog from someone, but he couldn't think who. _I'm sure it had been at home, probably while my parents were throwing a dinner party for their old friends._ The more he thought about it, the clearer it became. _Someone had spoken of Aragog, saying how he was unfortunately doing quite well for his age and still reigned over the forest, having resisted several Auror attempts to get rid of the infestation. Who would care about the forest? Who would know about creatures like the spiders… of course! How had I not seen it before?_

"It matters because I am James Potter, son of Harry Potter and friend of Rubeus Hagrid." James declared.

Adaxon shifted, "Oh, my dear child, I see." Adaxon made another clicking noise and the other spiders seemed to relax. "James Potter is a friend of Hagrid. Naturally, that fixes everything… except… it doesn't. What does this Hagrid have to do with me?"

James stood tall, mustering as much courage as he could. "This means everything to you- at least it should, if you value your father at all!"

Adaxon gasped and flailed. "How dare you insult me, foolish boy. You know nothing of of the depth of my loyalty to my father."

This time, it was James who laughed, "Then I recommend that you value the dear friends of Rubeus Hagrid, who would be very upset if you killed us. If you killed us he would be so unhappy with you that he might even take away these lands you value so much!"

Adaxon seemed to mull James's words over. "You may pass through my lands this once. If my brothers and sisters ever find you here again, they will eat you. Goodbye, friends of Hagrid."

Adaxon turned toward the others. After a minute of the strange slicking noises the spiders slowly, seemingly reluctantly, cleared the path, allowing the cave to be seen once again through the trees. Adaxon was the last to leave, slowly sinking back into their primeval lair. James let out a sigh of relief, just barely believing that his plan had worked. Hugo and Rose both muttered hurried thanks to him.

"How in the world did you know that would work?" hissed Bel, her heart still trying to escape her ribs.

"I didn't," replied James, too low for the others to hear. "The story I heard was that Aragog almost ate my Dad and Uncle Ron after they tried to play the Hagrid card. I was just hoping that Adaxon wouldn't know that."

Bel snorted at that, and the group climbed on, ascending higher up the mountain. They were just meters from the mouth of the cave. They could practically feel its edge beneath their fingertips when they tripped over something on the ground. The ten quickly regained their footing and looked to see what had caused the tripping. Cat feared that the devilish roots had come back to life, but it was only a single tripwire this time.

However this time it was not the light brown of wood, but a dark green that grew larger as Bel followed its length first across the grass, over the large iron collar, and then to the toothy mouth weaving over them. She was the first to see that it was a looming snake that guarded the entrance, and couldn't help but think, _honestly, whoever planted all these traps really has a liking for large hungry monsters._ Bel was not nearly as alarmed by the snake as the rest of her friends-even Scorpius and Cat scrambled backward vainly trying to escape striking range. They did not realize—or remember, in Cat and Scorpius's cases—that someone who spoke Parseltongue was among them and they were growing quite perturbed by the giant snake overhead. They didn't listen to her pleas to keep still. Darting prey only looked like dinner. It didn't help that its fangs were at least a foot long, with razor-sharp tips dripping with an acid that burned away the grass wherever the drops fell. The snake snapped at them, trying to decide which one to take down first.

Bel stepped forward, hoping that this giant snake would be as willing to listen to her as the tiny grass snake had been so long ago in the Manor's garden. "Leave us alone," she commanded, giving it her best glare.

The others finally stood still, stunned, realizing that the snake could understand Bel's hissing noises because it had stopped chasing them and had turned to look at her. Even Cat and Scorpius were shocked, as they hadn't heard her speak it since she used to charm grass snakes into being necklaces and crowns on the very edges of their memories. The younger children seemed impressed, but their older companions remained wary.

The snake spoke back to Bel, "Why should I do that?"

Bel smirked on the outside, but inside she was desperately fishing for a story half as good as the one James had told the spiders. "Because I am Belladonna Black, daughter of Tom Riddle, Heir of Slytherin. Why should you obey the commands of a wizard who has bound you with magic?"

The snake seemed satisfied with this. "Fine, _my lady_. Release me and you may pass unharmed." It lowered itself down to the ground, thumping down so that the iron ring was only a pace away from Bel.

Her companions scrambled even farther away from its yellow eyes, not understanding what was going on. Bel felt a twinge of doubt. _If this doesn't work, it will eat me._ " _Alohamora,_ " she whispered, and the collar spilt along an invisible seam and dropped to the ground.

The snake slithered away, hissing at them as it did so. Bel thanked the heavens that her name held enough importance to the selfish snake that he had bothered to listen long enough to bargain. They had been very clever tonight, but really, it had been their parents who had saved them. Bel was afraid this unlikely cadre might not be so lucky, if they ever had to fight a battle entirely on their own.

Teddy led the way once more and lifted himself into the cave's mouth, gripping the gravelly floor and heaving himself up. From there, he extended his arm to Victoire who helped him pull up James and then the others. Eventually, they all stood in the mouth of the cave. Many of them shuddered, feeling exhaustion and danger settling around them. The conjunction was creeping closer. Together, James and Bel took the lead, plunging into the cave blindly, only to bounce backward off an invisible but impenetrable boundary. They landed awkwardly on the floor behind them, almost knocking Rose over. At first, they didn't understand, until a piece of worn parchment appeared. It hovered in the place where the air itself had rejected them. It read:

 _A creature lies inside this quandary,_

 _Once solved, its name shall release this boundary._

 _First is a self that oneself knows best,_

 _Not I or me, nonetheless._

 _Second is always the first in number,_

 _The second of one and the fifth of seven._

 _Third is what allows you to know_

 _That you have a body and looks to show._

 _Last is an object bestowed with ears,_

 _To its dismay, it cannot hear._

Everyone crowded around the parchment, fighting to get a glimpse at the riddle. After a few minutes, they had each read it and got cracking on the solution.

"So, we're looking for the name of a creature," Cat confirmed.

"And its name, or perhaps the letters, are scrambled in the four parts," Scorpius continued.

"Let's start with the first part." Bel decided. " 'First is a self that oneself knows best, not I or me, nonetheless.' "

Rose cleared her throat, "It obviously means you, or the letter u. You know you better than anyone. If it's not I or me, it has to be you."

"Okay, good job, Rosie. On to part two," James stated. " Second is always the first in number, the second of one and the fifth of seven. "

The gang brainstormed for a long while. They couldn't seem to reach a suitable conclusion. The only thing that had come close was a theory Scorpius scratched up. He was convinced that the answer was in the number line he had scratched on the wall with a rock. They decided to keep the theory on the table. Just in case. They kept the numbers 'three' and 'twelve' as they were the second number after one and the fifth after seven. After failing to come up with any other ideas, they moved on.

"All right, time for part three," Albus chimed. " 'Third is one that allows you to know that you have a body and looks to show.' "

This part also completely stymied everyone. After about five minutes or so, they hadn't gotten anywhere. Eventually, they voted to abandon another section and moved on to part four.

" 'Last is an object bestowed with ears, to its dismay, it cannot hear.' " Teddy recited.

The room was quiet, the answer unclear. Suddenly, Victoire clamped a hand to her mouth, gasping. "IT'S CORN! Corn comes in ears but can't hear!"

After her exclamation, all of the children locked eyes. "You and Corn," muttered Bel. Of course! They knew the answer. It was right in front of them.

"UNICORN!" They proclaimed in unison.

Immediately, the scroll disappeared into thin air, dissolving in a puff of smoke. Then, a movement in the air signaled that the charm guarding the cave had been lifted. James took a step forward cautiously, not wishing to be sent flying backwards again. But this time, he was allowed through. James strode forward slowly as the others crossed gingerly over the former barrier. This time, they met no resistance as they ventured deeper and deeper into the cave lit only by the distant entrance. It was impossible to silence their footsteps completely as they ventured down the dark passage, but they managed to make them as quiet and muffled as possible. Eventually, they had walked so far that the light streaming in through the mouth of the cave was no longer discernible and their walk was in complete darkness.

"Lumos!" Bel whispered. She held out her wand, taking the lead and illuminating their path. The cave walls were jagged and bare, except for a few wiry black hairs. The dimly lit walls bounced and seemed to move in the wand light, although James reckoned that the perception was just a trick of his over-active nerves.

Bel led them around a turn. They had to be nearing the back of the cave. Her ears pricked, catching a noise in the distance. Suddenly her blood boiled, sensing something just beyond her wand's light. She took another step forward, clearing the bend in the cave to discover what lay beyond. The passage opened up into a cavernous room filled with firelight. Then, movement near the back of room caught her eye. It was a tall form in a dark cloak.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen available now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress**


	15. Bloodlines

Bloodlines

The figure in the dark cloak was bent over a low table covered with a wide array of bottles, brushes, a book with a hole in it, and bowls of what looked suspiciously like blood. A large yellowed book was splayed open in the midst of the mess, and the figure was running a finger along its lines of runic text. Another figure was slumped on the floor—an old man in rags. He was surrounded by a pentagram and hundreds of runes drawn in a glistening ruby liquid. Beside the prone figure a large brazier burned, casting flickering shadows on the stone walls. Bel let out an involuntary gasp as the sight forced the air from her chest.

The hooded figure whipped around at the tiny noise, revealing the harried face of Jacob Zagyva. He quickly broke into a sickly sweet smile as he pointed his wand at the intruders, and shouted "Incarcerous" before any of the younger students could even raise theirs. Thick ropes spiraled from the tip and rapidly curled around the legs and arms of all ten children, binding them together into a tight knot of tangled limbs. He languidly strode across the gleaming smooth stone floor, careful not to step inside the homeless man's pentagram or smudge any of the other strange marks surrounding it. "Well, well, well," he gloated. "If the Potter prat didn't figure it out after all this time. It was quite amusing the way you chased the little princess around the corridors all year, never even looking in my direction."

"I'm not a princess!" Bel snapped at Jacob as he knelt down before them, still grinning.

"You should have covered your tracks better!" retorted James, his eyes shining with pent up fury. "We figured out it was you as soon as I accused Bel. You shouldn't fight with your girlfriend in public!"

Jacob recoiled a fraction of an inch at that, but the smile did not slip from his lips. "Oh, I think you are a little princess," he continued, patting her head. "You look too much like your parents to hide for long. Perhaps it was for the best that you found your way here, even if you did bring all these…guests. It is much too late to stop me. The apex of the conjunction is only moments away, and you will make a wonderful gift for your father. Your little friends, too. Admittedly, it is not Harry Potter gift wrapped, but his children and the blood traitor's prats are not a bad substitute." He unconcernedly turned his back on the trussed prisoners and picked his way back to the table at the back of the cage. He picked up the bowl of blood and a brush and continued to ink the strange hieroglyphs onto the floor.

"Her father is Abraxos Black and he's dead!" Scorpius shouted across the cave as the shock of Jacob's brazen statements wore off.

Jacob did not even bother to look up from his macabre art project as he replied in a silkily patient voice. "I find that highly unlikely, although I do believe he's dead. Your father is Lord Voldemort-once known as Tom Riddle-and death is not nearly as permanent a state as many believe." He laughed at the blank shocked look that appeared on many faces. He finished the last rune and replaced the bowl and brush. "Did you not tell your little friends princess, or were none of you bright enough to figure out what The Book of Necromancy is really for?"

"That is not possible," said Teddy flatly. "You can't bring people back from the dead. Everybody knows that!"

Jacob threw back his head and laughed. "It's not impossible, just difficult. There are certain ingredients you need that are challenging to get ahold of, and others that some might find _distasteful_ ," he said, kicking the unconscious man. "Certain rare and controlled substances—easily obtained by a little jaunt through the Hogwarts' stores. A knowledge of Ancient Runes, access to a talisman of the spirit being revived—you would be surprised how many of so-called ex Death Eaters haven't quite given up hope and were more than willing to cough up a suitable item-one of his old school things I was told—and of course a conjunction of Mercury and Venus is the last condition. Except of course a little gift for the ferryman. A life for a life and all that."

Cat turned slightly green. "You don't mean you are actually going to kill that man…blood magic has been illegal for centuries!"

"Of course I'm going to kill him—he's only a muggle after all. and a beggar to boot. No one is going to miss him, I found him drunk in a London alley over Easter. Well, it won't be me killing him exactly. It's my understanding he will just…disappear…and be replaced with the invoked spirit."

"It won't work!" spat James. "The Hogwarts copy of the Book is incomplete. Three pages of the last spell—the one about necromancy—are missing. They were stolen before Hogwarts was even built, and the ministry one is missing the entire last third. It's going to blow up in your face!"

If it were possible, Jacob's smile grew even wider. "That would be true, except _I_ haven't been fully truthful. Although technically my name is Jacob Zagyva, the rest of my family tree was a blatant forgery. The name I prefer is Iakob Grindelwald. The missing three pages of the Book belonged to Gellert Grindelwald, and I…ah…inherited them from his daughter—my mother, although he was never aware of her as she was born after he was imprisoned in his own castle."

"Wait," cut in Victoire. "Your grandfather almost took over the continent, and you want to bring back Voldemort? You're completely mad!"

The older student leaned back against the table, completely unfazed. "It might appear that way, but I assure you, I'm completely sane. Although necromancy is possible, there are limits. The more recent the death, the easier it is, and it is much easier to be reborn where the death occurred in the first place, such as Hogwarts for example. Resurrecting my Grandfather is beyond my reach, as Nurmengard is completely inaccessible, and he died two decades ago. But it would not be impossible to Lord Voldemort, and together, both Dark Lords would be unstoppable!"

"Nope. Still insane," whispered Rose into James's ear over Lily's quiet sobs. "But I think I might be able to work my left hand free…"

All conversation stopped as the blood on the floor began to turn silver and glow with an inner light, as if from a unicorn instead of a human. "And the Apex at last!" Jacob hissed, standing and grabbing a sheet of parchment off the table. "Mercurium supraque Venerem viribus conjuro te. Qui quondam huius signum statim habetur carus. " He held the little black book with the gaping hole over the pentagram and dropped it onto one of the points. The young wizard continued chanting as he threw handfuls of dried plants into the fire burning hungrily on the stone floor. "Ego voco autem primogenitum Tom Marvollo Riddle et dicitur Lord Voldemort, The Heir of Slytherin, The Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and You-Know Who. Cum sanguine hostiae aperire januas mortis. Carnibus mortuis sacrificium novum dabo caro sacrificii munus animam spiritum dicam sumatur pro renasci. Adiuro cruore pura anima evocatus est vas novum et plane mortali," he intoned, in a voice no longer sounding like his own.

The symbols on the floor began to luminesce with the force of the sun, and little tendrils of power began to reach through the book and into the old man's body. It began to glow, its lines blurring under the touch of the light, seemingly melting away and reforming at the same time. The body changed before their eyes, growing taller and stronger on the cavern floor, grey scraggly beard and unwashed white hair replaced with smooth skin and short dark hair—the same shade as Bel's own. It had stopped moving—even to breathe—after giving one enormous spasm soon after the light had touched it. The lack of movement gave the distinct impression of a lack of life, despite the shape's growing and changing in front of their eyes.

The body finally settled into what appeared to be its final form, and suddenly the little book flared, even brighter than anything before it. Shards of silvery matter began to appear on the book and fly into the body—the same translucent material as the Hogwarts ghosts—and soon the body came to life. It thrashed around inside the pentagram, thrown back every time its movements threatened to take it outside the shining silver lines. And it screamed. It screamed in a way that no human should scream as the shards continued to slowly coalesce around the book and settle into the convulsing form. Within the shards glimpses of eyes, hands, and faces could be seen, even once, the scales of a snake. Some were large and distinct, others small, with wavering outlines, but all made the figure on the stone floor scream louder, until at last the book grew dim and lifeless once more.

The light drained out of the runes on the floor, until only the lines of the pentagram glowed faintly. The figure on the ground had stopped screaming, and was shuddering on the ground as Jacob approached the nearest shimmering line. "Do you remember who you are?" he queried softly, still showing no signs of fear.

Bel shook in her place wedged between James and Scorpius, willing the figure to stay silent and still with all her might. The fates did not listen, and it rolled onto its knees, movements slow and hesitant, as if the skin did not fit quite right. He raised his face and Bel's heart stopped in her chest. How was I even allowed to walk through the doors that first night? Anyone who had ever seen a photograph should have known who I was immediately. I've seen that face in the mirror my entire life.

Tom Riddle regained his feet, standing far more steadily than could have been expected. He stood several inches taller than Jacob, and appeared to be only a year or two older than the smaller boy. His eyes scanned the room slowly, catching on the small book on the floor and the knot of children tied in the back. Bel could have sworn his eyes turned red with the light of madness when they swept past James, but were again jet black when they caught her own. She wished desperately to disappear under that gaze. He knew exactly who she was. She knew that down to her very bones.

Riddle turned again to face Jacob, and put one finger on the invisible shield formed by the pentagram. The air turned silver where he touched it. His voice was horse when he finally replied. "I am Lord Voldemort. But I do not know who you are, or why you still have me trapped here since you have obviously gone to such trouble to summon me here."

Jacob looked pathetically eager as he stammered "My name is Iakob Grindelwald, grandson of Gellert Grindelwald. I have been studying dark magic for years in order to follow in his footsteps. I found this spell several years ago, but, while bringing back Gellert directly was beyond my talents, I knew I could reach you. Together we could reclaim Nurmengard and revive him. No one would be able to stop you if we worked together. The whole world would fall before us. I have gifts for you…" he trailed off as he gestured to the knot of bound children blocking the exit passage.

An elbow poked Bel in her back as Rose's arm finally worked out from beneath the ropes where she was pinned behind Bel. Rose slid the wand out of Teddy's back pocket, and passed it by her fingertips into the only trained hand she could reach—Victoire's. Bel's momentarily distracted attention snapped back to the threat in the center of the cavern as her father smiled back at the smaller wizard. _I know that expression. It's the same one I give the hopelessly thick teachers that I need something from. Still, it's kind of hard to feel sorry for Jacob._ The ropes slackened around her, and she was able to reclaim her wand as she stood up.

"Break this silly little pentagram and we can discuss your ideas. They seem to have merit. Perhaps working alone was a mistake…"

"Don't do it Jacob! You can't trust him. He'll say anything to get you to free him. Send him back if you can, and leave him in that cage if you can't!" Bel yelled desperately across the room, trying to get Jacob to see the truth. Although his eyes flashed to hers, he did not seem convinced-fully under Riddle's thrall.

"Be quiet Belladonna!" he snapped from inside the glowing lines. Riddle turned back to smile at Jacob. "She knows nothing, of course. Remember, I can't help you from in here."

Jacob whipped around and picked up a thin stick from the table—an extra wand, James saw. He raised his own, feeling several of his companions copy him, but the wands flew into the air before any of them could even form the words of a spell. They landed at the seventh year's feet. He did not even bother to pick them up off the ground. Bel was the only one still in possession of her wand, not having attacked quickly enough, but she could not match Jacob alone.

Jacob stepped close to the shield, and rubbed at one of the lines with his foot. The pentagram lost its brilliance in a few heartbeats, and it gave no more resistance as Riddle stepped out, once more, into the land of the living. Jacob, his hand finally shaking, held out the spare wand, which was quickly snatched from his grip. "Thank you for all your help, but I hope you understand that I can't allow you to continue to live with this secret in your head," the reborn wizard said, the thin vernier of civility and sanity finally gone, revealing the turmoil underneath.

Jacob scrambled back, at long last recognizing the danger he was in. "Wait! What do you mean? I helped you…" The merciless green light silenced his protests as Riddle kicked the failed wands, and the little book in their midst into the farthest corner of the cave.

"So…what do we have here?" Riddle hissed, coming closer to the children and the tunnel behind them. "I see at least one…two Potters and several Weasleys. And my daughter and a Malfoy among them. How interesting. Which of you wants to tell me about the last decade?"

Bel stepped forward, blocking her friends and attempting to divert the attention of the monster that shared her blood. _Please, please, still be human enough not to kill me for this._ "I will tell you," Bel stammered, failing to put some steel in her voice.

The madman shifted again, the charming smile once again on his face as he laughed softly. "No. I'm sure you think you are smart enough to fool me with me a lie. I don't have time to deal with your regrettable stubbornness right now, daughter." His gaze scanned the flock of children still blocking the passage.

Lily had been shoved near the back, mostly concealed behind her taller companions, and her way to the mouth of the cave clear. _He's distracted talking to the crazy-haired girl, the one he calls daughter,_ she thought with a shudder. _He probably hasn't counted us yet, and I've always been fast, I probably could make it out—get help—before he even noticed I was gone._ She whirled around and took off at a sprint, silent and unnoticed by her brothers and cousins.

She was not unnoticed by Riddle, however, and he easily shoved his way through the blockade by the door and caught her before she had run more than a few yards. "I think you will do nicely," he purred while dragging her back into the room by one arm, easily ignoring her struggling. With his wand hand he cast a ward on the passageway, effectively sealing everyone inside the cavern.

Riddle tossed Lily onto Jacob's abandoned stool as he leaned against the wall. "You look like the smallest Weasley girl. It would be better if you were not as troublesome as she was," he stated calmly. "Let's start with your name, shall we?"

To her credit, Lily did not scream or start crying again. "I'm Lily Potter!"

This seemed to strike Riddle as incredibly funny. "Didn't one of me kill you already?"

Lily frowned at the nonsensical statement. "No?"

"Never mind. What is the date, and what is your father doing with himself, still playing the hero?" Suddenly he doubled over, almost sliding down the wall onto the floor.

The knot by the door scattered across the cave for several seconds before Riddle recovered enough to raise his wand again. "The next one of you who moves will wish that I killed them!" He turned back to the smallest girl, ignoring the other still figures once again.

"It's May 11th, 2011, and my Dad's the head of the Auror office," she said in a rush.

He opened his mouth to fire off another question, when Bel saw one of the strangest things she'd ever seen. His wand fell through his hand. He caught it before it reached the floor, but Bel was sure of what she had seen. Her suspicions were confirmed when Riddle suddenly abandoned his interrogation of Lily, and began to ruffle through the abandoned book on the table.

James had not seen the wand temporarily ignore the existence of Riddle's fingers, but he could sense that something might be slowly tipping the scales in their favor. He slowly began to crawl along the edge of the cave toward the far corner where his wand lay, carefully maneuvering around the still burning brazier. He kept expecting some dark curse to hit his back, but apparently Riddle was too distracted by the mechanics of the spell to notice the movements of a small boy.

Bel could not believe that he was actually reading the strange alphabet of the book, but she continued to stare, and several times the vellum sheets of the books slipped through his finger tips. She jerked backwards at his sudden exclamation.

"That useless imbecile! He forgot an entire page of the spell!" Riddle began to ransack the table, still cursing Jacob under his breath. Once he reached the far end of the table, he screamed and began again, even more frantic, as his search had failed to turn up the correct materials. "INCOMPETENT FOOL!" He removed a large silver knife from the table, turning to face the body still cooling on the floor. "You're making me improvise!"

Riddle wheeled on Lily, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look him in the eyes. "I'm the reason that you don't have grandparents, and I will eventually be the reason that you don't have parents. Do you hate me, little girl? Tell me you hate me Lily Potter," he hissed in her face.

She struggled, finally crying, until she eventually passed through his hand, almost falling off the stool in the process. The shock of it stopped her tears, and she stared at Riddle, who was beginning to become slightly translucent, as if he were made of glass.

"Good enough," he growled, making a small cut on her arm and dipping one of the brushes from the table into the rivulet of blood. "Blood of the enemy," he muttered, looking unhinged. "It's not going to work," he said, as he etched the same sort of runes on his own arm. Riddle shook his head violently, hissing, "Shut up, shut up, shut up! All of you be quiet so I can think!" into the silent room.

Riddle again scanned the room, almost tripping over Jacob's body before grinning madly. "I think you count as a servant, although 'willing' might be a bit of a stretch." He sliced into the corpse's arm, took another brush from the table, and drew a longer string of runes on his other arm. He raised his voice, calling out "Belladonna, come here!"

Bel froze, torn between obeying to buy time or attacking. Either he hadn't noticed or didn't care that she was still in possession of her wand. She whipped it into the air, yelling " _Petrificus Totalus!_ " Her spell flew through the air, but bounced off Riddle's quickly cast shield charm, and hit Hugo, who fell to the floor as his muscles locked.

"I don't have time for this," Riddle ground out, flicking his borrowed wand.

The stone floor beneath Bel's feet was suddenly no longer solid, and slid her quickly towards her father, as Lily took the opportunity to bolt across the room into Teddy's arms. The floor became firm as she reached the table, but when she tried to lift her feet, she found them solidly stuck to the stone. "Let. Me. Go!" she screamed in his face, angry enough that a little spurt of flame shot out of the end of her wand before Riddle wrenched it from her fingers.

With effort, the calm charming mask reappeared on his face, as he laid a hand on her shoulder. It was so insubstantial it had almost no weight—she could barely feel that it was there. He smiled down at her, "Belladonna, I need to take some of your blood. I promise it won't hurt, and it will be over quickly. We can go home, you can even have your mother back. You don't have to be alone anymore. I promise. You can even bring your friends with you."

He turned her hand over, and rested the tip of the wand on her palm. A small well of blood appeared, but there was no cut-just blood seeping through her skin. She tried to yank away from him, but there was still a surprising amount of strength in his hands. _He was right. It didn't hurt at all,_ she thought as she saw Lily crying in Teddy's arms, blood still oozing slowly down her arm. She did not even feel the tip of the brush before he dropped her hand.

James reached the pile in the corner, glancing over his shoulder to see Riddle completely distracted by Bel. Her eyes urged him to hurry. James rifled through the pile of wands, retrieving his own, and seeing the odd little book, he scooped it up as well.

"Willingly given," Riddle muttered, painting the final runes and then pausing, as if waiting for something to happen. He looked up to see his daughter walking away from him.

"No, I'm not alone," Bel said firmly, feeling the floor release her feet. "Not willingly given, you can't have it. Sorry, that doesn't mess you up, does it?"

"Come back here!" he shouted, raising his wand to summon her back.

Bel's calves bumped into something several steps before she thought she would hit the cave wall. Almost overbalancing, she looked over her shoulder to see the brazier burning behind her, its iron side surprisingly cool. She looked around the cave wildly, trapped again, before she saw James holding the book. An image of silvery matter coming out of it flashed behind her eyes, and a wild, outrageous idea sprang into her mind. She kicked just as she felt herself once again dragged across the cave.

James saw the brazier spinning towards him, stopping only a few feet away. He looked up at Bel, and she mimed tossing something into the flames just before she was spun around to face Riddle. James looked down at the objects in his hands, and Bel's plan finally clicked in his mind. He hurled the black book into the flames, where it burned merrily. "Piss off, you maggot!" he shouted.

Riddle's chest exploded into light, and for a moment James thought that Bel had been wrong. But it was not the bright light of the spell, it was flames. They ate their way through him, exploding though his skin from the inside as he dived across the cave, trying to reach the brazier, and it's inexplicably precious cargo. Riddle was far too late. The golden tongues ate him as surely as they consumed the pages of the book, quickly curling, blackening, and burning to ash. He faded until the wall could clearly be seen through his body and robes in the gaps between the flames. As quickly as he had come, Riddle disappeared, and the cave was left in stunned silence. The flames continued to dance merrily.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen available now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress**

 **Chapters will be posted every Sunday until completion**


	16. Truth and Lies

Truth and Lies

They looked around the room, still half in shock, seeing the bloody runes on the floor, the body, and the merry fire. James walked over to the table, began to shuffle through the papers, and was soon joined by Bel. They were an odd assortment of letters, pages torn from textbooks, and hand-written notes. James held up one of the unfinished letters. "He really was mad. He signed it Iakob Grindelwald. Spelled with an I and a k. Mean anything to any of yo?" he asked, passing the sheet around the room.

"Sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't place it," Bel murmured, glancing at Scorpius and Cat who both shook their heads. "We're going to have to take some sort of proof back to the castle. No one is going to believe this."

"We can't very well haul whatever-his-real-name-was back to the castle, he's got to be two hundred pounds, and we walked for ages to get here," commented Teddy.

"What about that little book thing? Anything left of it? Seemed to be important," asked Rose from the doorway.

James looked up and laughed without humor. "I burned it-probably what finally killed Riddle." He looked back at the mass of parchment on the table, and the corner of an old water-stained piece poked out from the bottom of the pile. James tugged at it, and it slid into his hand. It was stiff and heavy with age, so dark it was almost illegible, but upon closer inspection he saw it was covered with the same runes that marred the floor. "Hold on, I might have found something. I think this is one of the three missing pages Jacob was going on about. I don't know where the rest of it is, but this has been lost for ages, right? Surely finding it will prove enough of our story that McGonagall or whoever will _have_ to at least come see for themselves!"

"Should we grab anything else, or just start now?" Scorpius queried. "It has to be past midnight by now, and surely someone's noticed we're missing by now. The quicker we get back, the less fuss they'll make and maybe they'll listen that much faster."

"He's probably right," Bel said, turning to James, who nodded. "If everyone's got their wands, lets get out of here. Hopefully we'll be able to get a ride from Hogsmeade back up to the castle."

The tunnel out of the cave was shorter than they remembered, or perhaps some sort of enchantment had died with Jacob. Soon they could see the light of the outside world, and to their surprise the party emerged into the first rays of sunset. "I would have sworn we'd been in there half the night," muttered Cat in a shaky voice.

"At least until it was dark out," agreed Albus. "I guess you don't need a time turner to make time do funny things when you're scared witless."

They continued walking, down along the rocky slope away from the cave mouth, until they reached the grass where the snake had been. Bel continued walking, but several of the others stopped, looking warily at the tall waving grass. "The snake should be gone now," Bel insisted in a voice that sounded much more confident than she felt. _I certainly wouldn't stick around to be captured again once I'd been freed. We'd better hope that it didn't because I don't have anything to offer it this time._

With a minimum amount of groaning everyone crossed the grass, and other than a small scare with Hugo and a grass snake, the journey into the trees was without incident. The acromantulas were also mysteriously absent, although strange noises could be heard throughout their part of the forest, and small webs lined the trees by the path. When the tree roots did not come alive—their enchantment must have been tied to the life of their creator—cautious conversation began to occur within the group. Eventually it turned to exactly how much to try to tell the adults before they got them to the cave.

Cat soon took charge of this conversation, starting to craft the story most likely to be believed. "It's probably best if we tell as much of the truth as possible," she mused.

"Yes, adults do tend to get jumpy if they find out later what they think they should have known from the first," agreed Victoire.

"Probably still best to admit to the least amount of rule-breaking as we can get away with," continued Cat.

"When exactly did we break any rules today Cat?" snapped Teddy. "I don't think anyone's bothered to forbid stopping some fool from resurrecting Voldemort. We're probably not even out of bounds. I don't think there's a limit on how far from Hogsmeade you can go, and Uncle Harry went there once. At this rate we might even make it back on time. Oh, sur-we'll be late to meet our parents, but they're probably not too worried yet."

"Well, lets see…rules we broke…two counts of out of bounds at night and breaking into the restricted section, lying to the staff about who you are, not reporting dark magic immediately, endangering younger children. I think they will count these as out of bounds, and we are never getting back on time. Oh, and I guess murder, if you think that Riddle was actually alive in the first place, but I don't think people are going to be very worked up about that," Victoire snapped back.

"It's not quite as bad as all that," James intervened. "We probably don't have to admit to all that, do we? They don't need to know what time it was that day when Bel saw Jacob in the restricted section, and it is irrelevant that Teddy, Victoire, and I were there at all. We did try to tell them about Jacob—admittedly not very hard—but we can spin that a little. And while I agree with Victoire that we won't get back on time, it doesn't matter much. Sure, they'll be mad for a minute, but we have a nice juicy story to distract them with, and by the time anyone remembers we were late, or how far we went, it will seem silly to punish us for it. And since they won't think any of us should have been there at all, the fact that we took the younger ones shouldn't matter too much. As for Bel, I don't think that it is anyone's business but hers who her parents are. She made her allegiance perfectly clear back there, and what the adults don't know won't hurt them."

The party fell silent for several minutes as they trudged along, each quietly mulling over James's words. _It just sounds so reasonable when he says it like that,_ thought Victoire gloomily, staring at the ground. _It always sounds so reasonable when he says anything. That's the problem._

Bel felt the core of ice that had formed within her hours ago when the Gryffindors had found out her secret begin to melt. She had been so sure that these were her last hours of freedom thatshe had taken risks she would never have dreamed of otherwise. She was a Slytherin, after all. _I can't believe that James just said he wasn't going to tell McGonagall, and everyone is just going along with it. Even if the Headmistress decided not to do anything to me, that secret is just too juicy not to leak quickly. Even though I have never done anything, people would lynch me if they knew, law or no law. I'm not sure the Aurors would even pretend to try to stop them._

Scorpius grudgingly revised his opinion of James, the other Gryffindors, and the Gryffindor-lets since they were going along with him. _I guess there isn't any need for me to figure out how to make everyone except Cat and Bel disappear or lose their memory before we get back to the castle. Oh, and destroy that bloody map._

The stories that had been flitting through Cat's head about how Jacob had hit almost everyone with a Confundus Charm suddenly stopped. _One less thing that I have to make up lies to cover up._

 _My brother is so cool,_ thought Albus. _All of them are, working together like that. I wish I could have helped._

The funny thing about journeys is that the path home is much shorter than the way there, but the remaining time was incredibly productive, as Cat and Victoire carefully coached each of them on the party line. The sun had not quite set by the time the roofs of Hogsmeade began to peek through the trees. Quite a few families of stragglers could be seen hurrying through the streets back to the castle. It was only then that, looking at the clean streets, they realized how disheveled they had become.

They walked along the street, attempting not to draw any attention by sticking to the shadows of the buildings. Soon the light and warmth of The Three Broomsticks spilled out onto the street. Teddy's eyes ran over the bedraggled little group, before lighting on Rose. "Rose, you look the least filthy of all of us, go in and see if any of our adults are in there."

Rose pushed the heavy door open, and disappeared inside for a few seconds before darting back out onto the street. "They are back at the long table from earlier, and Mum is starting to look unhappy. I think we'd better get in there fast."

Reluctantly they piled in through the doors, ignoring the stares of the smattering of other patrons as they walked to the table where their family sat. Rose saw her mother's face relax into relief before reverting into Disappointed Mum Mode. "Where have you all been?" she spat, glaring at them.

"And how did you possibly manage to destroy your clothes so thoroughly in Hogsmeade?" echoed Ginny. " _Scourgify!_ At least that got rid of the worst of the mud," Ginny said as the group felt the topmost coat of grime disappear from their clothes and skin.

After the parents had finished the preliminary scoldings for being filthy and late, James and Bel stepped up from the back of the group. Bel registered some fleeting looks of surprise and other expressions on the adult's faces before they settled into polite neutral expressions. "As you may have guessed we had a rather interesting day," James began, looking his father right in the eyes as he pulled out one of the missing pages.

"That is one of the missing pages of the Hogwarts Book of Necromancy," continued Bel. "We also found the other two along with the main Book that was stolen earlier this year."

Teddy took up his place in the narrative. "But as this is a little time sensitive, we'd like to tell this story only once, so could we please continue this conversation in the Head's Office? I think this is something she'd like to hear."

Cat smiled quietly at Victoire standing with her at the back of the group. _Flawless. Keep moving the narrative around, keep them from asking too many questions, but give them just enough to take you seriously_.

Harry looked down at the stained and crumpled piece of paper on the table in front of him. _It certainly looks old,_ he mused, _and it is covered with lots of curious markings. Not my department,_ he decided quickly, and handed it down the table to Hermione.

Hermione looked at the parchment, completely expecting to find a page from an old Ancient Runes textbook, or at best a bad forgery. But the longer she looked, the less convinced she was. Years ago she had actually gotten a look at the Hogwarts Book of Necromancy on one of their illicit forays into the Restricted Section, and this certainly looked right… "I can't tell for sure," she finally said, "but this should definitely be shown to McGonagall."

It was rare that James had seen his father actually try to make something happen faster because of who he was, both as hero of the last war, and Head of the Auror Department. Usually he actively attempted to avoid special treatment, enduring it when that proved futile. But tonight things happened in a veritable whirlwind, and James was sure his father had somehow caused it to happen. A few words to the waitress as the bill was paid, and three carriages were waiting on the street as they left. The carriages drove themselves right to the _open doors of the main entrance_ , instead of stopping at the edge of the Forrest as carriages were supposed to do. A prefect guide was waiting at the entrance to escort them, but he was ignored as Father led them in a forced march right to the Head's Office, whose staircase was already spiraling upward. Even the _moving staircases_ had cooperated, rearranging themselves into a more convenient route. It somehow took less than five minutes from standing up in The Three Broomsticks to sitting down beneath the gaze of the portraits. Of course telling the full story (or as much of it as was healthy to tell) to the waiting audience of parents, Headmistress, Toran, Flitwick, and Longbottom took a bit longer.

"Let me get this straight," McGonagall said, staring at the page that had been transferred to her custody on arrival. "The Head Boy stole The Book of Necromancy."

"Yes," confirmed Teddy.

"He was also in possession of the missing three pages-pages he claimed to have gotten indirectly from his grandfather _Gellert Grindelwald._ " McGonagall looked at them unblinkingly.

"Yes," said James.

"He then proceeded to use the spell, which actually worked because of something to do with the conjunction, to sacrifice an old muggle man, and bring back the dead."

"Yes." Bel nodded emphatically.

"The spell summoned something calling itself Tom Riddle or Voldemort."

Victoire nodded, "Yes."

"The apparition used magic to kill Jacob. The head boy is dead."

"Very dead," replied Cat.

"The apparition then started to fade, and attempted a ritual involving multiple types of blood, and made references to last time and 'Blood of the Enemy' and something about Jacob's blood."

"Yes," squeezed Lily, holding up her arm where a thin cut was visible.

"But that is as far as this…spell…went because James threw the little book with a hole in it that the apparition had appeared from into the fire and it disappeared."

"That's what happened," insisted Scorpius.

"All of you realize exactly how far-fetched this sounds, do you not?" asked Professor Toran.

"We know, but what happened happened," persisted James. "Thats why we brought the page, and we can take you to the cave and see what's left."

Professor Flitwick, who had left halfway through their story returned, and whispered something to the Headmistress. "It appears that Jacob never returned from Hogsmeade today. Although I do not believe the specifics of your tale, it does merit investigation, unless anyone has any more questions for our young friends." McGonagall glanced around at the adults listening in silence.

"I have just one question," said Harry from where he was leaning against the back wall. "James, were you the one who got the best look at the little book as we've been calling it?" James nodded, looking puzzled. "I would like you to describe it, tell me everything about it you can remember."

"It was a little black leather book with silver at the corners. It had a little plaque on it, but I couldn't read it, it was banged up pretty bad, and the light wasn't great. Then there was a hole right through it, like someone had spilled acid on it. But it burned up," James replied.

"Did you open it, and if so what was inside?" his father continued to probe.

"I don't think anyone opened it, certainly not long enough to read anything written inside. Was it important? Should I not have burned it?" James was beginning to be concerned. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

"No, burning it was probably the best thing that could have happened. I just wish I had gotten a look at it first." Harry sighed. "It's been so long, I just can't be sure anymore." He looked at Ginny where she sat in the armchair by the edge of the desk. She was a curious shade of white. "I hate to ask you this, my love, but could you confirm my memory. I have no idea how it could have ended up there but…"

James was startled to see his mother nod once, and turn to stare out the window. But his father was soon speaking again. "I agree Minerva, this must be investigated, and I can't see any way around taking at least some of the children. But perhaps some dinner could be found for the youngest…"

The headmistress nodded and strode to the door. When she opened it, the prefect who had been waiting for them earlier jumped back. She had been engaged in a futile attempt to eavesdrop through the soundproof door. "Please take Mr. Potter, Miss Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Weasley down to the kitchens and have the house elves make them dinner."

Rose protested all the way out of the room. "It's not fair. We were there too You can't just throw us out like this! We might have important insights or something!" It did no good, and soon their youngest four companions had disappeared into the bowels of the castle.

"Do you wish to call for reinforcements, Mr. Potter?" asked McGonagall. "This is after all, your area of expertise."

"I think that we are more than enough to clean up whatever mess a seventh year managed to make." Harry laughed. "After all, it appears that most of my job was done for me by a third year, a second year, and four _first years_. Besides, I am incredibly skeptical about some _aspects_ of this story, even coming from my own children."

James was disappointed but not surprised. However, as he knew that if he had not been in the cave he would not have believed it either, it was impossible to be angry with his father. The adults headed them down the stairs and out of the castle. The little line of carriages was waiting for them on the lawn outside of the castle, and with the same unnatural speed as before, they were whisked back through Hogsmeade to the base of the hills that they had climbed earlier.

When they disembarked from the carriages the adults immediately lit their wands, as the moonlight was not quite enough to see clearly. Teddy took the lead and they began to walk slowly, picking their way across the uneven ground. Soon, the ground became pockmarked with scars from the falling rocks. "This is where the enchanted boulders came down from the cliffs," elaborated James. "See here is one of the places where they hit, and then they fell into that ravine."

Neville knelt down for a closer look at the plants that had been in the boulder's way. "They were smashed by something heavy," he concluded. "A boulder is definitely a possibility." The group continued to walk, past the field and into the trees.

A few yards in, Teddy stopped and warily poked the ground with a stick. "This is about where the roots started trying to eat us," he said. "They didn't bother us on the way back, but it might be some sort of one-way enchantment."

Harry looked concerned as Neville examined the roots, taking out his wand and tapping some of them. "It isn't a variety of Devil's Snare, is it?" Harry asked anxiously.

It was Hermione who answered, "Don't be silly, Harry, they came through here in broad daylight. Devil's Snare is nocturnal." Ron laughed quietly, and Harry joined in.

After a few minutes Neville stood up and brushed some twigs off the front of his robes. "It definitely isn't a variety of Devil's Snare, and I can't find any sign of a lingering enchantment. However, I would say that this section of forest experienced a major upheaval recently so it may be that the enchantment has broken and dissipated."

After testing the ground for a few yards, Harry declared that it was safe to continue, and Teddy once again led the group. Their pace slowed down to a crawl when the silvery spiderwebs began to appear in the trees, and wandgrips shifted into subtlely tighter positions. But the Acromantulas did not bother the party, perhaps intimidated by the presence of so many adult wizards. The trees thinned out and were replaced by tall grass. "The Acromantulas were the last obstacle?" asked McGonagall. "There was nothing guarding the cave itself?"

"No," replied James firmly. It had been decided that there was no good way to explain how they defeated a giant snake without a Parselmouth. So Teddy had carefully led them around where the chain had fallen and they had all hoped none of the adults would notice the omission. "Only the riddle just inside. Perhaps that was meant to guard the cave itself." McGonagall seemed to accept this, and after both she and Harry had performed several checks of the cave itself the party slowly walked through the entrance.

No poem appeared, and soon enough, faint firelight could be seen. As they rounded the final bend, James was relieved to see that nothing had disappeared after being left alone for a few hours. On first glance it appeared completely untouched, the only change being the slightly dimmer magical fire. But the longer he looked, the more James felt that something was just a little _off_. Nothing large seemed to be missing, but something subtle was wrong. As if everything had been moved just enough to notice. _It's probably nothing,_ he thought. _Just the natural creepy factor of the cave._

Harry quickly went over to the fallen boy, but stood up after a quick investigation. "He's dead, without a mark on him. No way to tell exactly how without a trained Healer. If I had to guess I would say that the backlash of whatever spell this was killed him. I see it only too often when people experiment with things they don't really understand." Harry traced some of the strange shapes on the floor. "Some sort of runic alphabet. Can you read any of it, Hermione?"

Hermione had been studying one of the larger patches of runes on the walls. "I can't identify any of it, but it looks related to the ancient Celtic alphabet. Perhaps an expert could say more. I haven't really done anything with runes since Hogwarts."

Harry turned to James, "Where is the dead muggle you talked about? You said this blood was probably his." He looked expectantly at his son.

James counted backwards from ten in his head. _Here we go. Now that we can't produce a body with Voldemort written on it they are going to start dismissing everything we say, even though we told them he disappeared._ "There never was a body for the dead muggle. The spell took over and turned him into Riddle, and then he disappeared. The muggle never came back."

Harry nodded slowly and looked over where Ginny, Ron, and Neville had been sorting through the papers on the table. "Find the missing book yet?" he asked.

Ginny looked up from the slowly forming stacks of papers. "There isn't a book in this mess. wewould have found it by now. As for more 'missing pages' it's possible, but most of this is either barely coherent ramblings or more of the runic stuff." She shook her head sadly. "I don't think that the boy was completely sane."

"I have seen enough here," stated Harry. "I will return to conclude the official investigation tomorrow with some of my Aurors, but I think this is fairly clear cut."

Bel had been staring at the pile of papers on the desk while most of the others had been busy answering the adults'questions. It looked just a little odd to her. She surreptitiously moved close enough to Scorpius to talk without being overheard. "Does that pile on the desk look smaller than you remember it being?" she asked in a low voice.

Scorpius gave the desk a hard look. "I would have sworn I saw a book on it, too. He used it more than once, didn't he? Who could have taken it? They would have had to have known where the cave was."

Bel nodded slowly. "I remember that too, but didn't want to mention it before. Should we say anything?"

Scorpius looked unhappy, "Not to the adults. They are already deciding we are confused or lying. But lets compare notes with some of the others later. Lily might have gotten a good look at the table, if she can remember any of it."

It was only a few more minutes before the adults herded everyone out of the cave, and Harry and McGonagall sealed the cave until the investigation could continue. Each of the adults except McGonagall and Flitwick took one of the children and they Disapparated back to the carriages. While Teddy and Scorpius fell down, only Cat was sick, which was quite impressive as none of them had experienced the twisting of space that was Apparition before. The carriages transported them back to Hogwarts, and when they returned to McGonagall's office they found their younger companions waiting.

When everyone had returned to their seats, McGonagall leaned forward and placed her hands on her desk. "And now it is time to discuss the appropriate punishments for all of you."

Teddy's mouth dropped open. "What! We stopped Jacob from brining back Voldemort, and you're going to _dock house points?_ "

McGonagall's eyes were hard. "While I am convinced that something happened in that cave, I do not believe for one second that Voldemort was involved. However, I do not believe you are deliberately lying to us either. Some sort of trick must have been involved. Nevertheless, none of you should have been in that cave in the first place! I cannot leave punishment up to your parents, as then I would be forced to reveal your ridiculous story, and _some_ of you would face _unpleasant_ consequences at home. I urge you to forget all about it. I think three weeks of detention apiece would suffice, to be served starting next year, finishing whenever the last of you become my students! Unfortunately, I also feel compelled to award ten house points apiece for alerting us to a difficult situation."

Lily actually gigged from the back of the room. "We must be the first people to ever get detention and win house points before we were even students!" she whispered.

James jumped to his feet looking dismayed. "We were not tricked, and we're not lying! I know what I saw, Dad! Won't you even give us the benefit of the doubt and keep looking? You seemed to want to believe us about the little book!"

"Sit down son," Harry said softly. "I am very good at my job. Jacob was killed by a badly thought out new spell-a spell that made you see things that were not there."

"Don't patronize me! I've heard the stories! How did you feel when people didn't believe you that Voldemort had come back? Can we please remember what happened last time people ignored this? I'm not even asking you to just believe me, but please, _please_ spend more than ten minutes looking into it!"

This time Harry was on his feet. "This is why I kept you all away from all of this as long as I could! Voldemort is dead, he is never coming back! And if he did, I. WOULD. KNOW!" He took a deep breath and turned to McGonagall. "If you do not mind, I think it would be best if everyone stayed here tonight, and left tomorrow morning."

McGonagall stood up, "Of course, rooms should have already been prepared. The Aurors can clear this up tomorrow."

It took a little longer than that to tie up all the loose ends, but nothing really changed. Over the next few days Aurors talked to all of them individually and together. Nobody was willing to believe them. After three days, the official investigation was closed. Jacob had died of accidental spell backfire while testing an experimental charm. During the backfire, everyone else had a shared hallucination involving a common fear. The Book of Necromancy and the two missing pages were never found, although the page they brought back was determined to be of the correct age.

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress**

 **Chapters will be posted every Sunday until completion**


	17. The Train Ride

The Train Ride

Although the adults didn't believe them, all ten children knew what they had seen that spring night. They knew with complete certainty that Jacob Zagyva (self-proclaimed Iakob Grindelwald) had died trying to bring back the most powerful dark wizard of all time and that he nearly succeeded. The last flicker of hope that several of them had cherished had been quashed when the most powerful Dark Lord of all time had recognized his daughter and, most importantly, they knew if they valued their friend's life they could never tell another soul. However, there were other things they had yet to discuss. Early the next morning, before any rumors had spread and while the younger children were still among them, all ten met in an empty classroom behind a particularly ugly statue of Bathilda Bagshot holding a copy of _A History of Magic_.

When Bel, Cat, and Scorpius entered, they found that they were the last to arrive. Teddy, who had been sent to the Hospital Wing to fix his injuries, had already been released and looked rather well. Madam Pomfrey was an exceptionally good healer, and though she was reluctant to release him so quickly, she gave in after seeing how well he'd progressed. Teddy quietly attributed his remarkably fast healing ability and reflexes to his werewolf blood, though in most other ways it seemed to be completely dormant. Madam Pomfrey had wanted to keep all ten children overnight, just in case, but other than a few scratches—and supposedly being Confudled—they were completely well.

Bel sent Teddy a relieved smile, and James a quick nod, before taking the seat beside him and they started the meeting. After about thirty minutes spent evaluating all of the so-called reasonable explanations offered by the adults, they had all reestablished that what they had seen was exactly what had actually happened. Each of them could recall the event in extreme detail without fault. They decided that no matter how convinced the adults were, it just couldn't be a spell. No one was that good about faking that many memories; there were always gaps. And the idea of mass hallucination was just plain silly. Then, they moved on to things that actually mattered.

"I swear on Merlin's beard that there was a book on that desk, but when we came back with the adults, it was gone!" Scorpius exclaimed.

Victoire nodded, "I'm almost certain I saw the same thing. Is anyone else absolutely certain they saw an old book?"

The group continued this conversation for several more minutes until it seemed that the majority was thoroughly convinced that there had indeed been a book. Albus couldn't remember, but he admitted to not getting a good look at the piles of papers. Upon further consideration, they came to the conclusion that it had to have been the Book of Necromancy. It didn't make sense any other way.

"But how did it just disappear like that?" Albus asked.

James shuddered at the thought, hoping the mundanely logical, but sinister, conclusion he'd drawn wasn't the only one possible.

"It had to have been taken after we left, but before the adults came. The only problem is, it could be anyone! There were so many families in the village that night." Rose reasoned.

James's heart sank. The others nodded in agreement, finding they had little light left to shed on the subject. After a few minutes, it was James who finally spoke. "I thought of that, too. But it gets worse. Whoever took it must have known Jacob's plan in advance. They were either detained, or they were only supposed to come after it had worked. They could try again since Jacob failed, or worse, they could come after us! Whoever it was, we have to find out exactly what they know. The only upside in all this is that they probably don't have the complete spell because we have the missing piece, and such things are almost always protected by anti-copying jinxes." Everyone shared worried glances, wishing that James were wrong. James himself was terrified to be right.

Cat cleared her throat. "There's no use getting worked up, though. We didn't see anyone lurking around. Whoever it was probably didn't see us either, and most likely came after we interrupted things, or else they would have stopped us. Now, we have the upper hand because they don't know we're on to them! This summer, we'll lay low and try to find out as much as we can."

Cat felt the atmosphere of the room change. Bel even visibly relaxed her shoulders. Cat was quite proud of herself for forming such a rallying speech, as her lips hinted at a smile. This was more to convince herself than the others, but it seemed to lighten the mood. They then scattered, the Slytherins heading towards the common room and the Gryffindors and siblings heading to the Entrance Hall. There they met with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny to say their goodbyes.

By this time, their family was receiving many stares from the students and even a few faculty members nearby. James realized with a start that all the other families had left the night before, so this scene would be a bit odd even without the rumors that had inevitably started to spread. Many of the people gathered in the hall tried to steal a lingering glance at his parents and his aunt and uncle. As his mother hugged him tightly and muttered a terse goodbye, she seemed not to notice the extra attention, immune by many years of constant exposure. But try as he might, James could not forget it. He was only distracted from the awkwardness when his father drew him close, hovering near his ear.

"I'll probably be in the village for several days—until this mess is cleared up. I promise we'll get to the bottom of it. Don't worry. I love you and I'll see you at the end of term. James, son, have a pleasant end of term and please, at least _try_ to stay out of trouble." Harry smiled down at his eldest son.

James nodded, his father sending him a tired smile. He clapped James on the back and then turned, taking his wife's hand and leading James's younger siblings into the nearest carriage. The group managed to hide out in the Gryffindor Common Room until dinner in the Great Hall, where they found McGonagall was already poised to speak.

McGonagall walked the few short steps to the podium, a serious expression marking her face. Most people did not notice and continued obliviously chatting on, but there were six faces in the audience that sat as quiet as mice.

McGonagall glanced around the hall. "May I have your attention, please." The hall fell silent as McGonagall took on a grim expression. "I regret to inform you that as of this time last night, our very own Head Boy of Slytherin House, Jacob Zagyva is no longer with us…"

The hall broke out into a collection of gasps and whispers. All faces showed intense alarm, especially the Slytherins. Despite many competing rumors, no one really believed anyone had died. Jacob's girlfriend, Astrid, turned very pale and started shaking in her seat. She looked as if she would erupt into tears at any moment. Bel glanced at her empathetically, feeling sorry that she hadn't told her ahead of time…even if her boyfriend had turned out to be a flesh-eating slug.

McGonagall continued. "Mr. Zagyva attempted to perform a type of very old and historically dangerous magic. He was extremely foolish not to consider the consequences as they happened to be fatal. Though I am truly mournful, let this be a lesson to anyone who will listen: be careful when trying your hand at complex sorcery, because even the best of wizards fall when matched with magic beyond their skills.

I would also like to say thank-you to six young students and their siblings for trying to stop Mr. Zagyva before it was too late. Three Gryffindors—Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, and Mr. Lupin—joined three Slytherins,—Miss Black, Mr. Malfoy, and Miss Goyle. Let these six students be an example to all houses, for setting aside their differences and joining together in the face of danger. I commend them for their bravery."

McGonagall clapped, as did many faculty members, but the students remained silent. They stared between the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables, eyes locked on the six students who were known to be rivals. After the initial shock, the air filled with questions.

"How'd you know? How'd you find him?" asked a Slytherin.

"Did you see him…you know… die?" asked Agnes.

"What spell was it? Did he explode?"

"Merlin's Pants! How did the six of you wind up together?"

"Why them?"

McGonagall banged her glass on the podium, "Enough, enough. I said ENOUGH!" Silence followed. "I assure you that Mr. Zagyva's death was a very traumatizing experience and those who were there would probably like to be left alone and not relive it! If you have any questions, this most unfortunate incident has been turned over to the Ministry for further investigation, and a formal report should be released soon to quell the many silly rumors I have already heard. Until then, we will resume classes as normal, with the exception of Mr. Zagyva's memorial, which will take place after exams."

The rest of the term passed fairly quickly. The six had been caught dead-center in the cold grip of a spotlight. James, who had endured this at the beginning of term, began to loathe it even more. Teddy and Victoire were slightly less annoyed, and just pretended not to notice it. The Slytherins themselves were doubly frustrated from the endless loop of questions, both about the cave and _fraternizing with the enemy_. Soon, Scorpius started binding people's legs together when they asked too many questions. For several days, the only words heard from Scorpius's mouth were " _Locomotor Mortis!"_ After about a week or two, the stares and whispers had died down as people had more pressing worries. Before any of them were really ready, exams had started. Everyone studied rigorously, and each worried about different exams. Bel and Scorpius dreaded Transfiguration and practiced for the exam during every waking moment when they weren't studying for something else, even if it was their last exam. In fact, they were practically inseparable, as they had a very intense study regimen which required them to be within five feet of each other at almost all times. Cat, feeling content with her handling of the Astronomy exam, was less nervous about her remaining finals, but still kept herself busy with Charms work. She continually tried to distract Bel and Scorpius from their truly unhealthy rate of studying, but the cousins could not be shaken. After several hours, she had given up and escaped down to the dormitory to get some rest.

James was not worried about most of his exams except History of Magic, mainly because it was impossible to stay awake for the entire class. As hard as he tried, he had fallen asleep during the class almost every day of the term. He had appreciated the soporific affect Professor Binns had on his brain—excellent for midday naps—but for once he wished it would stop as he was having an exceedingly difficult time remembering details about the cause of the first goblin genocide. He was vaguely aware of the goblin rebellion of 1612 but he had no idea if the two events had even happened in the same century. James stuffed one of his uncles' newest pranking candies, a _Clattering Chocolate Clock_ , into his mouth. The candy could last for up to an hour and was a very effective tool for keeping him awake since it jumped up and down fiercely in his mouth every few seconds. He was quite disappointed when he had found out that he was not allowed to chew on one during the actual exam.

Victoire herself was most concerned with her Herbology exam. She poured over her notes for the next day. She wasn't too worried but she had such a knack for killing many simple household plants that she'd received extra tutoring from Professor Longbottom during her first year at Hogwarts. It had immensely improved her performance, but she was not going to risk it by skimping on studying.

Perhaps the most relaxed of all was Teddy, who had studied a fair amount but barely at all compared to the others. Teddy was a natural student and found most subjects came easily to him. He was among the top of his year, and others came seeking his insight rather often. In fact, Victoire's ardent admirer, Liam Pepin, asked Teddy for advice so frequently that Teddy began to charge him a Sickle for every three answers. Teddy and James both figured that half his reasoning was to get closer to Victoire, as Teddy and Victoire spent most of their time together, but she seemed to ignore him entirely when she could possibly get away with it.

The Gryffindors and Slytherins did not speak much during their preparations for exams, but frequently nodded at each other in the halls and spoke readily enough in their shared classes. And as quickly as exams had come, they ended.

Teddy, Cat, and Victoire felt content with the majority of their exams. James, who had studied his way through three whole boxes of _Chattering Chocolate Clocks_ before History of Magic, felt completely exhausted but had managed to power through the dreaded exam. After his last exam, three teachers insisted he be dragged up to the Hospital Wing, the rings under his eyes were so bad. He had also lost a lot of weight from his already-too-thin form, despite a steady diet of magical candy. He slept for forty-two straight hours in the Hospital Wing. When he finally did wake up, Bel was visiting and heaved a pile of food into his lap before walking him to the portrait of the Fat Lady so he could prepare for Jacob's memorial.

James noticed that she seemed more jittery than normal. Bel confessed that she was nervous about her Transfiguration exam, for which the scores were yet to be released. She then went on to tell him that she had stated the Transfiguration formula flawlessly in her written essay but her spellwork had been a bit flawed. Apparently, her snuffbox still had a hardened mouse head and tail. James guaranteed her that he'd seen—and done—worse in his own class but that didn't seem to reassure her very much.

James quickly changed into fresh robes and walked out to the Courtyard where the memorial was beginning. He squeezed his way between Teddy and Victoire. All three of them had been plagued with nightmares since the accident, which was the real reason James had barely slept during exams. He often woke up screaming, visions of Jacob's death etched into his brain. Bel experienced identical night terrors, watching her own father strike Jacob with a flash of green light. His face arrested permanently in an expression of terror as his eyes glazed over. That's how Jacob looked now as James stared down into his casket. It seemed whomever had dressed him has closed his eyes but it did little to hide his pained expression. His casket sat in the center of the courtyard, made of a dark mahogany wood emblazoned with his family's crest in the middle. It was etched in with black marble. The whole of the courtyard took on a somber feel. It was dressed in sweeping black curtains and black bleachers had been placed in a semicircle around Jacob's body.

McGonagall stood next to a couple neither James or Bel had ever seen before. They both had tears in their eyes and the woman leaned heavily on the man as she sobbed. Victoire squeezed James' hand and Teddy's and they both squeezed back. She whispered to James, "Jacob's parents?" as she pointed out the mourning couple.

The ceremony was short, and everyone—even Jacob's friends—left as soon as they could until it was only the three Gryffindors, the three Slytherins and Jacob's parents that remained. The children watched as Astrid was dragged out by her friends Valis and Cassie. A tear dropped down Victoire's cheek as she watched Jacob's parents continue to look miserable.

"Oh, can you imagine how they must feel? Their only son, perfectly healthy, just gone. Stolen from them, for no good reason." Victoire murmured.

Teddy put an arm around her but got a faraway look, as if he were trying to remember something very hard. They all knew they'd tried to save him—to reason with him—but it hadn't been enough.

"Do you get the nightmares too?" Scorpius whispered.

Everyone nodded. "Sometimes," Teddy whispered.

The six turned and waved at Jacob's parents before returning to the castle.

In the days after the memorial, the castle returned to its usual cheerfulness. Exams had been posted and most people were not too terrified with the results. To no one's surprise, Teddy passed with flying colors. Liam, who had lost a whole Galleon in answers to Teddy, almost cried with joy when he saw his results. He told him that his mother would send Teddy a whole pie as soon as he went home for the summer. Victoire almost did a double take when her best score of the term was in Herbology. Cat did about as well as she expected to and even got Exceeds Expectations in Astronomy.

James managed to pass all his exams in his near-comatose state, even if his History of Magic score wasn't much. He asked Bel about her Transfiguration score and she positively beamed.

"I passed! I can't believe it, Scorpius and I both! Who would've known we could do it? I certainly didn't…"

Scorpius was so happy James thought he might be drunk. He had added a veritable hop to his step and his laugh became borderline loony. For the rest of the term, it seemed as if he didn't have a care in the world, in fact, none of them really did. They figured Hogwarts was now as safe as anyplace and they hadn't seen anything suspicious since the Hogsmeade trip.

Bel, Cat, and Scorpius were ecstatic as they entered the hall for their first End-of-Term Feast. The hall had been draped with long Hogwarts banners and teachers donned festive hats of varying pointedness. The tables were laid with long tablecloths displaying house colors and set with sparkling plates and spotless silverware.

McGonagall rose to speak. "Welcome, students to the End-of-Term Feast. I vow not to bore you with a long and arduous speech so that we can get to the food more quickly. However, congratulations are in order. I am very please with the N. E. W. T. and O. W. L. scores this year, some of the highest scores in many centuries, thanks to our esteemed faculty. Please, a round of applause for our hardworking teachers and students…"

Everyone erupted in thunderous applause.

"Now, to announce the winner of the Quidditch Cup! Oh, how exciting, certainly one on my favorite parts of the year! This years winner, by a landslide, for the first time in oh, I'm not even sure how many years, is… Hufflepuff House."

The Hufflepuffs, who were notorious for not winning much of anything, roared. The other houses sat silent, not out of disrespect, but of pure shock. Most people's jaws dropped, including many of the Professors. Eventually, the shock subsided and everyone clapped for the Hufflepuffs who looked as if thy had just won the world's largest stack of Galleons.

"And our House Cup winners, oh! I don't believe it! Hufflepuff again! The points from the Quiddich Cup pushed them just beyond Ravenclaw!" McGonagall covered her mouth.

This time, the Hufflepuffs cheered louder than anyone imagined had possibly ever occurred in the Great Hall before. Several students were slapping and pinching themselves, making sure they were not dreaming. Almost everyone found it in their hearts to be happy for them—they all agreed Hufflepuff could use a victory. Head of Hufflepuff House, Professor Sinistra had briefly fainted and there were tears of joy flowing down the Professor's face.

"Oh! Even the stars could not show me something as great as this!" she squealed as she hugged a Hufflepuff Prefect.

The whole hall seemed to take on a yellow glow. From the banners to the tablecloths, everything carried a yellow theme and a proud badger was displayed on every Hufflepuff's hat. Suddenly, the tables were covered with as many dishes as anyone could imagine and their goblets were filled with pumpkin juice.

Teddy laughed hysterically. "You know, I keep close track on the house points every year and it hadn't even occurred to me to add Hufflepuff to the roster!"

James smirked, "I don't think it occurred to the Hufflepuffs either."

The Hufflepuffs threw their hats in the air and a parade of yellow showered onto the Hogwarts students. At that same moment, yellow streamers burst from the ceiling, covering everyone and everything, including the feast. Everyone knew that this year would go down in Hufflepuff history as the greatest in a century.

The next morning Bel and Cat were packing their trunks. They were not so excited to be going back home to the Manor. As Cat packed away Snowball's bed and the skirt she used to cushion it, she told Bel of her latest burning plot."Y'know, I don't think they'll make me do my homework if the Manor burns down. Or, I could just burn the assignments, I guess that could work too. Feed them to Snowball…"

Bel snickered and rolled her eyes at Cat. She doubted that these would be the only ingenious homework-avoiding schemes of the summer. Bel detested homework as much as anyone but she'd rather do a whole heap of Transfiguration than leave Hogwarts for the summer. It seemed that the minutes flew by as they made their way out of the dormitories, out of the common room, cleared the dungeons, walked up the staircases, through the castle, and finally to the Entrance Hall for the last time as first years. She didn't expect it all to feel so final.

As James swung into a carriage, he felt similarly bittersweet. However, he was looking forward to a summer of teasing his younger siblings and playing Quidditch with his cousins. In his opinion, that was almost as good as being at Hogwarts. His dad had even hinted that they may go on a small vacation. Whatever was in store that summer, he knew he would have a good time but that he would also miss Hogwarts and his new friends.

When they got to the Hogwarts Express, the shining steam engine called to him. He waved goodbye to Hagrid who picked him and Teddy up, tears in his eyes and pulled them into a bone-crushing hug. When he dropped them to the ground, James was fairly sure he might see stars for several hours afterward. Hagrid bent to kiss Victoire's hand who smiled brightly before curtsying back to him.

"Eh, I'm gonna miss the lot'a yeh, yer better know tha'." Hagrid bellowed.

The three stepped onto the train, pulling their trunks along behind them before scoring an empty compartment towards the end of the train. Teddy heaved all three trunks above their seats before taking a seat in between James and Victoire, who looked as if she might doze off at any moment. Teddy offered his shoulder as a pillow and she gladly accepted, sleep in her eyes. She was hoping to avoid a summer of babysitting her younger siblings and she felt they were old enough now that it might actually be possible. Slowly, the train took pulled away from the station, its rhythmic soundtrack creating a pattern that quickly sent Victoire into dreamland.

When the train started moving, Bel, Cat, and Scorpius were still searching for a compartment. They knew of several other Slytherin first years that were nice enough but they wanted to avoid the inevitable subject of Jacob's recent death. When they reached the end of the last row and were about to head back up, Bel glimpsed James's familiar scruffy black hair. She cautiously opened the compartment door to see James and Teddy discussing this years best Quidditch plays animatedly while Victoire dozed. Upon seeing her, they stopped, looking slightly surprised.

She shifted awkwardly, "Erm, is it okay if we sit here?"

Teddy and James nodded, shifting to give them more room in the compartment and immediately continued their discussion about a game played earlier this year between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Scorpius could not keep himself from joining in and was quick to side with James on a matter of a penalty shot. "I agree, I do think it was an accident. The beater did seem very sorry when he hit the poor Hufflepuff seeker but it doesn't matter, his face healed just fine and Hufflepuff would've won with or without the penalty."

Teddy grunted in defeat and James and Scorpius moved on to discussing what brooms they hoped to receive and how each were going to try out for their house teams next year. Bel sensed that Cat was about to launch into some joke about the horrible curse on the school that was Scorpius's Quidditch skills but Bel elbowed her in the ribs.

About halfway through the train ride, Victoire woke up and started looking at a list of elective courses that she would be able to choose from next year.

"Don't pick Divination, I promise you it's rubbish. That's why I didn't take it this year. Take something useful like Arithmancy or Muggle Studies."

"But why not?" Victoire argued, "I need a good laugh every once in a while! Why not put a joke or two in my schedule?"

Teddy shook his head, "Torie, you won't think it's so funny when you're writing a five page paper on _your_ impending doom! This year, Trelawney predicted a total of four different deaths. None of them happened. Sheridan and Shae Finnegan even told me that she made them do a fifteen page paper on the importance of being Gemini twins!"

At that point,Victoire admitted defeat about Divination but was still mulling over several different subjects.

When they got to King's Cross, they had just finished a three-on-three game of wizard's chess. Teddy, James, and Scorpius had lost to Bel, Cat, and Victoire who were quite impressed with themselves. When the train came to a slow stop, everyone pulled down their trunks and stopped at the door of the compartment.

"You'll write us if you find anything?" James asked.

The other three first years nodded. "You'll be the first to get word." Bel promised.

They exited the train and searched for their respective families. James saw his mother, father, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins all gathered in one giant heap. They looked extremely relieved to see all three of them had managed to remain in one piece since the disastrous weekend. The three turned and waved to the other trio of first years and they waved back before joining Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy.

Lucius raised an eyebrow when he saw that two of the students his charges had waved at looked suspiciously like a Weasley and a Potter. However, he decided that it probably was just in their general direction, not actually _at_ them. He smiled at the children, waving with the hand that was not clutching his carved cane. Once they reached him, he gave each one a quick pat on the shoulder, smiling proudly at his charges. "Hello children, how was your term?" Lucius asked.

Bel, Cat, and Scorpius shared a mischievous look. "Rather uneventful."

 **Full Text Chapters One through Seventeen available online and as a PDF now at www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress**

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 _ **The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes!**_

 _The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes! Every Christmas you will be able nominate and vote on a chapter-length short story in the Belladonna Black Universe to be released on Christmas Eve._

 ** _Rules:_**

 _Anyone can nominate and vote, you don't need to subscribe or leave your name._

 _Nomination will be open for two weeks from Wednesday November 16th to Wednesday_

 _November 30th._

 _Voting_ _ **www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress jingle-bels-christmas-sweepstakes/**_ _on the three Nominations will last for two weeks from Wednesday November 30th_

 _to Wednesday December 14th._

When Bel visits Hagrid's hut and Hagrid thinks she looks familiar so he quizzes her about her background.

A Potter family vacation.

When Bellatrix found out she was pregnant with Bel.

 _Any scene in the Belladonna Black Universe can be nominated with these exceptions:_

 _Ships that include characters or situations that are completely implausible such as: incest, ridiculous age gaps, or violates sexual orientations._

 _Time Travel beyond that of standard Time Turners, but reasonable What Ifs are fine._


	18. Surprises

_**The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes!**_

 _The First Annual Jingle Bel's Sweepstakes! Every Christmas you will be able nominate and vote on a chapter-length short story in the Belladonna Black Universe to be released on Christmas Eve._

A Jingle Bel's Christmas Story

Surprises

The dank walls of the cell closed in around her as she shivered on the hard cot that stood only a few inches above the floor. It must be nearing sunset, the last vestiges of warmth were starting to leech out of the western wall. It was closest—albeit barely—to the outside world, and sometimes she thought she could feel the sun through the stones. But perhaps she was just imagining things, something that happened far too often lately. She used to scream at the dementors, but only the newly arrived bothered to do that. Now she only screamed at the infrequent human visitors. Watching them flinch back against the far wall was one of the only pleasures she had left. Last time one of the Aurors had walked past her cell she hadn't bothered.

Suddenly, what was left of her muscles tensed, and she shrank against the stones. A dementor was gliding down the hall toward her cell, she could hear the screams of the others farther down. With effort, she turned her head away from the bars, but nothing could stop the dementor from draining what was left of her. Ironically, it had become less painful as the years wore on. _There isn't much left to take,_ she thought as her eyes drifted closed.

Hours later, she turned her head to see the small tray that contained something that could charitably be called food. The witch decided that she couldn't be bothered. The tray lay abandoned on the flagstones, accompanied by several others. An explosion rocked her cell followed by indistinguishable shouts. _A rescue hallucination,_ she thought dully. _It must be a good day. Funny, it doesn't feel like a good day._

Running footsteps and the snap of robes rang down the hall finally stopping in front of her set of bars. "I found her," the man shouted, the dull light glinting off his silver mask. More footsteps followed by another man outside her cell. The bars of her cell disintegrated with a sharp crunch, and the second figure stepped fully into her field of vision. _It's one of those then is it,_ thought the witch, still not bothering to move as he crouched beside her.

"Bellatrix," he asked, followed by a more concerned "Rix!" She only blinked back at him, startled by the sudden wandlight.

Bellatrix…thought the witch. That used to be important. She still didn't move as she was lifted from the cot and into the cold night air. There was no point.

The feeling of falling woke Bellatrix from her dark dream, and she rolled out of bed, nearly stumbling over the haphazard pile of dirty robes from last night's raid strewn across the floor. The witch rushed across the room, and through the adjoining tiled room and managed to make it just in time to retch into the toilet. _The effects from too many years stuck in Azkaban were always interestingly varied, but nausea was a new one._ There seemed always to be one coming or going, and nausea appeared to be this week's delightful present from the hellhole. In another time she might have had other feelings about incidents like this, but that was one of the first things Azkaban had stolen from her.

After a few minutes, she stood shakily and leaned against the marble sink below her mirror. Surprisingly, she looked slightly better than usual, perhaps after a year and a half of freedom she was beginning to reclaim the last of the weight imprisonment had stripped from her. This was the third day she had not cast homenum revelio, against her mother's orders from so long ago about symptoms like these, but nothing the charm could tell her was something she wanted to hear. But Draco's work on the Vanishing Cabinet was finished, and she could not afford to be ill, today of all days. But of course potions could not fix that.

Bellatrix's wand twitched, and she could feel five heartbeats thrum through the house. The house elf's in the cellar, and two beating quickly down the hall. Rodolphus and one of his interminable string of mistresses. Her own, and one other, sharing the room with her. _This is problematic,_ she thought as she tamped down the thoughts that threatened to send her spinning out of control. She had feigned madness in battle for so many years, most people hadn't noticed when it edged close to reality in the past year and a half.

The witch sank down onto her bed staring at the wall, but contemplating possibilities. Even blindsided, she had caught it early, only a few weeks. She could get rid of it, Cissy would help, although probably with a dishearteningly pleading look. This early, she probably wouldn't even need to fabricate an excuse for tonight. No one would ever need to know—Cissy would not even tell Lucius if she asked—and there were certain advantages to how she had been taught occlemency, long experience had taught her how to keep him out of certain parts of her mind. She could come clean, hear him out, and then do as she liked, an advantage few enjoyed. A long time ago, when the war had been almost won, she had once poured her potion down the sink and he had done nothing. She could conceal it—the mechanics of that would have to be worked out later—and hide it or give it up. Cissy had always wanted another child, but that would involve others. She could use the advantage of time, put it off a few weeks. _Or I could keep it. Somehow._

She pulled yesterday's robes over her head, and silently eased her door open. The thick carpeting muffled her footsteps as she padded down the hall to the stairs, past Rodolphus's room. A woman's voice was slightly muffled by the thick wood of the door. _I suppose I should be grateful that he doesn't care what I do, not that anyone would be stupid enough to object. But one would think he would have the taste not to bring them home with him. She didn't at least not when the oaf was home._

Seeing the look on his mistress's face the house elf scuttled out of her path to the door, taking his offer of breakfast with him. With the door firmly closed behind her, Bellatrix spun on the stoop and disappeared with a soft crack. The wrought iron gates of Malfoy Manor appeared before her. They swung open readily before her, as an almost member of the family she was guaranteed entrance. The house elf opened the door for her, but she cut short its traditional greeting with a curt, "Find my sister, and only my sister and tell her I need to see her quickly."

Bellatrix sat down on one of the leather chairs in the parlor for the few minutes it took Narcissa to rush down the stairs in some sort of fuzzy robe. She sat down on the couch opposite her sister about to launch a barrage of questions before Bellatrix cut her off. "I need your opinion on something, but only if you can do it without becoming overly emotional. Can you do that? Please," she said in a rush.

Cissy leaned forward looking concerned, "Are you dying, you don't look sick," catching a withering look from her sister, Narcissa continued, "Finally getting rid of Rodolphus?"

Bellatrix had to smile slightly at this before asking dryly, "And which manner of getting rid of were you proposing, Cissy, poison?" It was Bellatrix's turn to receive a withering look. "There are somewhat more pressing issues at the moment, but it's not outside of the realm of possibility."

Narcissa was looking more confused and concerned by the moment. "Either you're being intentionally vague, or I'm missing something obvious," the younger witch said with a calculating look. "Spit it out."

With her eyes locked on the plaster molding behind Narcissa's head, Bellatrix breathed, "I'm pregnant."

Cissy leaned back in her chair, considering her sister. "Exactly how sure are you," she asked skeptically glancing over Bella's thin frame.

Still pretending to be interested in the molding, "I revealed it," Bellatrix replied flatly.

 _At least she did something right,_ thought Narcissa before asking hesitantly, "I'm assuming it isn't Rodolphus's…"

Bellatrix's dark eyes flickered down from the molding to meet her sister's lighter ones. "Don't be thick, you know we barely speak. This couldn't have possibly happened at a worse time. How much longer do you think I have?"

Narcissa laughed. "It's not a death sentence Bella. A few more months before you're forced to stop fighting. Although you really should stop now, but I'm fully aware of how futile that request would be. If you really want my opinion, decide now if you're even open to having this child, under these circumstances, Bella. If you're not, get it over with quickly, and never tell another living soul," Narcissa said unhappily.

"That's not exactly the response I was expecting from you…" Bella said, looking at her sister curiously.

"I was working under the assumption that you already know what I think you _should_ do. What you wanted was someone to tell you what you _could_ do, what you already know." Narcissa replied testily. "I think you should deal with this like an adult. Tell him, and take advantage of those special privileges that you like to pretend don't exist."

"Why do you have to start making sense at the most inopportune times…" she trailed off, her pale skin showing a slightly green tint. Bellatrix froze for a few seconds as the bout rolled over her. She looked across the table unhappily at her sister, who was badly disguising a smile. "Exactly. How. Long. Does. This. Part. Last," she gritted out.

"A little over a month usually," Narcissa replied attempting to school her face into a sympathetic expression. "Unfortunately normal nausea potions don't seem to work on it."

"Thank you _so much_ for your sympathy dear sister," Bellatrix replied sarcastically standing to leave.

"Bella, stay a while, please…" Narcissa called vainly after her as Bellatrix disappeared into the early morning light.

When she disapparated, Bellatrix did not have a clear idea of where she was going, an unrecommended approach that could have unpredictable results. When the world stopped spinning, she was in a familiar forest on the edge of a small pond. A lightly worn path led into the trees to a large house that had been abandoned for decades before Tom had found it. The ministry, the bumbling fools, had somehow managed not to find it in the years it had once again stood uninhabited. It probably helped that very few people knew how to find it, Bellatrix knew of no others. The start of the path was about as close as you could apparate to it, the house was just out of sight lost in the trees, and the rest of the approach had to be made on foot. The witch sat down on one of the large sun warmed rocks that some ancient glacier had strewn around the edge of the lake. She sat there for several hours, long enough to watch the sun rise across the sky, long enough for the last of the morning's mist to be driven off.

When Bellatrix finally stood, she began to walk up the path toward the house. It wasn't a long walk, most of the time it was barely noticeable, but today it seemed to take an eternity. But eventually, the trees petered out revealing the house. In another time it had probably been the manse of a forgotten estate, large and made of sturdy stone. Three steps led up into an arched stone entryway that shielded a heavy wooded door. It swung open at her touch, as it had done for years.

The narrow hall off the foyer led to the sun drenched parlor at the back of the house. He was pouring two glasses of red wine from a crystal decanter, passing one to her before sitting in the leather armchair across from her sofa. Bellatrix looked at the rich liquid swirling against the glass. It was the first thing today that looked remotely appetizing, and she raised it gratefully to her lips. But a hazy memory floated across her mind, a lecture from so many years ago. This was one of the things you weren't supposed to do, wasn't it. With a sigh of regret, she deposited the glass on the mahogany side table, before lifting her gaze.

Sharp eyes flitted over her, "Something is wrong."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "You were on the Vance raid last night, and yet, you're here before noon."

Bellatrix felt her eyes slide inexorably back to the ceiling. "As you are going to find this as ludicrous as I did, probably best for you to cast homenum revelio yourself." She forced her eyes back down.

Tom sat back in his seat, "Why," he muttered, but his wand appeared from nowhere.

Bellatrix felt the curious soft presence of the spell sweep through her.

"I didn't know it could do that," he said, expressionless.

"It's passed down from mother to daughter," she muttered. "Most people that write the books don't consider it important, and distance or too many other heartbeats can drown it out."

"You have always been free to live your own life…but are you here to inform me of a decision or am I to be allowed an opinion?" he was impossible to read.

"I won't raise a child alone, no child should be ignored like my mother ignored me before I was old enough to be useful." The bitterness still bled through her voice.

"Rodolphus may expect…"

"Rodolphus be damned! You know perfectly well that he hasn't touched me since our wedding night, and only then because our parents would have disowned both of us. I won't entrust a child to the oaf."

"Under other circumstances…You know this could not have possibly happened at a worse time." Bellatrix thought she heard a tinge of regret.

"Yes, the timing is inconvenient to say the least, but I doubt this miracle will ever come again, for either of us."

"I suppose that is the answer. Yaxley and Snape can handle tonight's mission without you, but I suppose Lucius must be fished out of Azkaban sooner than I had planned to tip my hand."

"Cissy said that I should be fine for another few months, Yaxley and _Severus Snape_? They will never be able to finish Dumbledore, it's too risky!"

"Yes, risky is the operative word. Perhaps other raids, but not this one. But you will have to be out of sight for a while. Even if all goes well tonight, others would want to see you and the child dead."

 _At least I don't have to leave now, and to be totally honest, I never expected to go tonight. I should have kept quiet a few more hours, better one night of risk than Dumbledore finding the child, and the old man would know,_ he always _seems to know_. But all Bellatrix said was, "If this is to be a secret, as few people will be told as possible. Promise me one thing, not Snape."

Tom sighed, "Severus Snape has never given us any cause to doubt his loyalty, but as you wish, not him, even though tonight is owed as much to him as to your nephew."


	19. Belladonna Black and the Forgotten Crypt

**Messers. Moody, Spitfire, and Sprat**

 **Purveyors of Aids to the Harry Potter-Starved**

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 **Belladonna Black and the Forgotten Crypt**

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 **Authors' Note: The authors of this book have made one intentional departure from established cannon as of March 2016. The birth of The Potter Children has been moved up a few years to facilitate the plot. In this Fanfic, only the books and the movies where they do not conflict with the books are considered canon, but details from Pottermore, interviews, and other sources will be included where possible.**

 **We do not own Harry Potter. Obviously.**

Memories

The four men in silver masks swept up the drive to the little house, and the gate swung open with a flick of the leader's wand. A frightened man's face flashed at the window, before he drew the curtains tightly over the glass. He swung around to see his wife and young daughter working on a puzzle of a basket of wriggling puppies in front of the fire, oblivious to the danger behind the drapes.

He crossed the room in two long strides. Scooping up the small girl in his arms, the man hid her in the first place he saw-the open closet filled with puzzles and games. Thinking quickly, the woman gathered the unfinished puzzle with her wand and returned it to its shelf. Before closing the door, she knelt before her daughter, smoothing a piece of hair away from her small face. "Sweetheart, you need to be quiet, no matter what you hear. Can you promise Mummy?" The child nodded, gazing at her mother with wide puzzled eyes, not quite knowing whether to be frightened or not by this new game. She curled up in the corner, strips of light from the slats in the door falling across her fragile frame.

A blast from the lead wizard's wand, the one with a fleur de lis pattern on his mask, turned the once sturdy door of the cottage into a shower of splinters that splattered the thick carpet. The boots of the four men crunched through the jagged mulch toward the pair cowering near the back wall. A casual flick of one of their wands caused the couple's only weapons to clatter into the far wall before falling to mingle among the other discarded bits of wood.

The shortest man, one with a dragon patterned mask, dragged the woman by her hair to the center of the room, before depositing her at the leader's feet. "You run the grocers at this little…village, do you not?" he asked in a calm voice that belied the savagery of their entrance.

"Y-yes," the woman stammered, her eyes darting between her captors, as if futilely searching for an escape route.

He smiled behind his mask, "Yesterday, a young woman with rather unfortunate brown hair bought several items from your shop, including Essence of Dittany, did she not?"

Tremors running through her body, the grocer replied, "Many people come into my store every day. I do not remember them all." He nodded at the man in the dragon mask, who muttered " _Crucio_ ," causing the woman to collapse and send screams ricocheting around the room and into the closet where her little girl curled up into an even tighter ball but did not make a sound.

When her screams died down the wizard continued speaking in his calm voice. "I would suggest you answer my questions. If you lie, my associate here will be forced to loosen your tongue and that would be unfortunate. Now, with your memory refreshed, the girl."

Her voice still raw, the woman babbled answers to the questions quite willingly for several minutes. Yes, there had been a girl. She had been alone, but bought a copious amount of food and several unusual other things, but the woman did not remember exactly what they had been. She had shoved the items into a little bag before leaving the shop hastily. There had been nothing overly odd about her, except for the fact that she had been slightly dirty, as if she had not showered in a few days.

"Where did she go after she left your shop?" the wizard continued to probe.

"The woman, confused, blinked up at him. "She turned left down the street. Never saw her again." She could not see his eyes through the mask, but he nodded. She started to shake, "No that's all I know she just…" Her protests were cut off by screams.

"That girl was Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's mudblood. _Where did they go!_ "

"She just left…never said more than five words…please!" But the man nodded again. Soon the woman had no voice left to scream and only shook her head weakly in response. Eventually even that small response faded into motionlessness.

The fleur de lis masked wizard prodded the still form with the toe of his boot, but received no response. "That was a waste of my time," he muttered as he strolled out the open door, carelessly crunching her discarded wand under his heel on his way. His three shadows trailed him down the path, and echoed the quiet crack of wood as he left the ruined home. After they had left, the spell that had pinned the father to the far wall lifted, and he rushed over to the closet. True to her word, the small girl rocked in the corner, tears streaming down her plump cheeks without a sound. Daughter in one hand and wand in the other, the distraught man ran down the drive, never to return to the empty house again. "S-she should have just told them," he sobbed, burying his face in the girl's soft brown hair. He glanced back at the house one last time, muttering, "What does she owe him anyway? If she'd just…" before disapparating into the night.

Fourteen years later, the man who had once worn a fleur de lis mask during the midnight raids that had terrorized the countryside, was feverishly flipping through the notes he had transcribed so long ago. It had turned out to be nearly impossible to access the grounds of Hogwarts, and the wizard was forced to consider unorthodox methods. The problem had been stealing his sleep for weeks on end before a comment that had only made him laugh humorlessly to himself at the time rang so loudly through his dream that it woke him up well before dawn.

A name, a distant memory, and nine words guided him though decades of papers containing everything from secrets of the world to minutiae that had accumulated in his study. After hours of flipping through incidents best left forgotten in the corners of his mind, he finally hit upon two interesting entries. _The last name is correct,_ he mused, _but there is no mention of a daughter. She is the correct age, and perhaps it would not be out of the question to miss a useless toddler._ Scanning farther down the page, his eyes lit on a hopeful addendum noting that the husband had blamed Harry Potter personally for his wife's death, even going so far as to become a useful informant. He _and his daughter_ had moved to London, where he had been active in a cell. _Well, people always did have the most interesting reactions to things. She would be going into her seventh year. Perfect. Just in time._

A week later, the girl sloshed slowly through the light rain, on her way to the large gates that stood sentinel over an even larger house lit by the faint light of the full moon. It had all started with a cryptic owl a few nights ago that had delivered an unsigned letter to her bedroom window. The letter had only one line of neat script, and the owl had needed to tarry only the few minutes it had taken her to scrawl a reply. The next night a different owl had brought a set of instructions, including an untraceable Portkey, that had led her to this imposing mansion just after midnight. She still had no real idea what she would be expected to do, but the note had promised revenge, and that, thought the girl, was by far the most important thing.

A house elf in a drenched bed sheet met her at the gates and escorted her silently down the path and up the steps to the threshold of the house. As the girl passed through the doorway, she felt a spell draw the moisture from her clothes and hair, leaving her disheveled, but bone dry.

It was a quietly opulent house, of a different order than her own father's slightly grimy London flat. _No bedroom here has bins in the alley beneath the window, does it,_ thought the girl bitterly. The portraits on the walls spoke of a history other than hate, _no one sleeping in this house ever had to scrounge for their dinner, not with their father passed out on the couch. Every inch of it marble, velvet, or wood. Ridiculously beautiful. What he promised to pay me will buy me a new life anywhere I choose. Perhaps somewhere they've never heard of the name Harry Potter. Canada._ An ornate rug that she couldn't identify spread across the floor, thoughtlessly used as carpeting, and the house elf that still did not speak led her up the staircase to the left and down a long hallway to an open door that led into a darkly paneled study.

A man sat in a large chair on the far side of a desk fashioned of beautiful dark wood, his face in the shadows despite the moonlight streaming in through the window. He gestured the girl into a much smaller rather uncomfortable looking chair facing him, and she timidly sat down. The man leaned forward and placed his palms on the desk, bringing his face into the dim light. The girl's stomach dropped, as she suddenly realized where she was, and wondering if she was in way over her head.

Her thoughts swirled through her head as he began to speak. "I understand that you lost someone—someone close to you—in the little conflict a few years ago. This person had information that she refused to share when asked, and was killed for reticence, is that correct?"

The girl nodded as she remembered her mother's screams. Words—lies—torn from her pain-racked body that she did not know, could not tell them no matter what they did. The screams hadn't lasted very long that evil evening, but they still echoed in her dreams every few nights.

The wizard spoke in a soft voice as he outlined the offer to the girl. "I have a task that I am unable to complete myself or through my accustomed channels—one that you are uniquely placed to carry out. If you succeed in this task, I am prepared to give you several things that I am uniquely placed to give you. I will give you back your mother, and enough gold to allow your family to make a fresh start far from here. I hear New York is pleasant this time of year. Completing this task will give you the justice you seek, although a little patience will be required on your part. Those who wronged you will see their family ripped away from them, and suffer as you have suffered." The old wizard smiled silkily as he leaned back in his chair.

Shock that she tried desperately not to show crashed through the girl. It's just not possible, she thought in confusion. Everyone knows that you can't bring back the dead, but then again there could have been something to those crazy rumors from the end of last year. But even if there is only the slightest chance he can bring her back—and if anyone knew how, he would—I have to do it. Besides, with the amount of gold he is offering, I could do anything I wanted. She licked her lips and asked, "Exactly how much gold are you willing to pay me?"

The man looked at the girl squirming across from him, and smiled to himself. _It is always the gold, isn't it? Of all the things I offered her, the gold is what she wants most._ He waved a hand and a small open chest appeared on his desk between them. The gleam of gold erased any lingering resistance in her eyes, but he could not help himself when he asked, "Are you not curious about how I am going to bring your mother back from the dead?" Another wave of his hand returned the chest to his safe a hundred meters below the ground, ensconced in solid granite.

The glaze from seeing so much gold was slowly cleared from her eyes as she replied dazedly, "I don't actually think you can do it, but the gold and the revenge are enough. No one can work miracles." Her gaze flitted away from the man across the table.

The wizard reached into his robes, removed a folded square of paper from a concealed pocket, and passed the parcel into the girl's waiting hand. She unfolded the paper and smoothed it out on the desk. Her eyes flickered over the two images sketched, one above the other, on its surface. The first was a rough drawing of a ring with a little stone set into the band. The other was a rough map of a patch of shoreline, with a little promontory of land jutting out into the water. She recognized it immediately—the little spit of land that for most of the day was an island—and her heart sank. Her hopes of a simple request faded back into the depths of her mind. "This ring…it's inside? How do you expect me to open it? I heard after it was found open, ripped to pieces, it was enchanted so that no one would ever be able to get in again!"

The panic on her young face showed clearly, despite her feeble attempts to hide it, and the man let out an internal sigh. "You will have to remove the spells one at a time, but that shouldn't be too difficult for an intelligent young witch like you. To my knowledge no one has been to that island for a decade. I can offer you one piece of advice…approach from the west. The east is covered with ravines." Before she could ask any more troublesome questions or change her mind, the wizard rang a small bell and his house elf showed the girl out, despite her protestations. He rested his head on his hands for a moment before getting up to pace in front of the long row of windows.

 _How could it have come to this?_ his thoughts repeated in an endless loop. _Entrusting the future of everything in the shaking hands of a chance-met girl who had caught his attention only through an ill-thought comment. But what other choice do I have? She already caught me once, no excuse I could make would hold a second time. And those that I actually would trust, I cannot risk. If only that idiot Grindelwald had not lost the diary, this would not be necessary. Why did it have to be in the shadow of that damn castle?_

The wizard sank with a groan into his soft leather chair. _I have done what I can for the ring, and there are other items to acquire, most of them quite easily,_ he mused looking down at the list with six names and four items on it. _If the girl fails, once my comrades breathe again we can take the ring by force if necessary._


	20. Summer Correspondence

Summer Correspondence

Number 14 ½, Woodthrowe Lane, Godric's Hollow, was home to a very peculiar family. Two young children could be seen sitting on broomsticks, rather than holding them upright. One girl seemed to have steam blowing out of her ears, making her face as red as her hair. Another boy was holding out his hands to two owls, one with four envelopes tied to its feet, and the other holding a newspaper that if unrolled would be covered with moving pictures. The owl nipped at the boy until he paid the owl by slipping a coin into a soft leather pouch tied to its clawed foot. A pair of teenagers were gazing down into what looked like an armadillo hole. The tall boy stuck his hand down into it and pulled out what appeared to be a very ugly potato with limbs attached at uneven intervals. He laughed as he launched it across the lawn casually, acting as if this was a perfectly normal activity for a Sunday morning. This would have been a very odd scene for a muggle to see, if a muggle had been able to see it, of course.

Albus could be heard chatting excitedly in the kitchen from all the way upstairs. His feet were bouncing up and down on the floor, and then up the creaky stairs, causing quite a racket. James scowled as he looked up from his Potions homework. He was in a foul mood and there was still so much homework to be done. Of course, he had waited until the last few days of summer to even glance at it. James found himself rather troubled recently and could use a distraction, even if it were a dull one. As James's thoughts returned to his latest predicament, his door flew open admitting his brother, Albus. His eyes flashed with anticipation as he waved his arm excitedly, brandishing a letter in the air. James smiled at his brother's exuberance.

"Guess what came from Hogwarts today?" Albus sang.

"Well, I'm guessing not a toilet seat." James replied, ruffling Albus's mop of hair, tangling it even more.

Albus couldn't conceal his lopsided grin. He was looking forward to Hogwarts just as much as James had been the previous year. Maybe even more. James sincerely hoped he had not resembled an exploding lunatic when he had gotten the news of his acceptance, as his brother currently did. Albus had it down, even to the nervous laughter. He did a few energetic laps around the room before he started firing questions at James, apparently expecting the castle to have revealed all its secrets after only a year.

"Do you really have to fight a troll? Is the giant squid friendly? Is it poisonous? What should I pack? Has anyone ever died in the Forbidden Forest? Is the food as good as they sa-" Albus interrogated.

"Yes, sometimes, probably, I don't care, most likely and it's better. Now, if you ask me one more question I swear I'll tell the troll not to be gentle with you. We're on very good terms." James threatened.

Albus gulped nervously before darting from the room, his footsteps echoing on the stairs. Then, James heard them coming back up again and rolled his eyes. His door slammed open once more and Albus tossed a letter on James' bed.

"Almost forgot, one came for you, too."

James broke the seal gingerly, looking at his new letter and required items. He saw he'd be needing a more advanced standard spell book but other than that, must of the other required volumes were the same as last year's. His brother, however, would need to pick up the entire lot. While it was fun the first time, he didn't envy his brother. Last year, he'd had a rather unfortunate encounter with a set of vicious hemming pins and several seriously annoyed wands. Needless to say, he had no desire to relive the experience.

He was a little surprised his parents were even letting him go back at all…he had caused such a fuss last year. James had half thought he might be shipped off to Ilivermony or worse. He had heard his mother and father discussing it at the beginning of summer. They whispered about it and what to do with his new theory of the Dark Lord's fleeting return for the better part of an hour. They decided he had just wanted to do something important, like his father, and had landed himself in a bad situation. His father had agonized about whether waiting to tell him and Albus and Lily about the wars had been a good idea but in the end, they figured something like this had probably been inevitable no matter what they had done. At least it was over.

James was a little disappointed to see that Bel had not replied to his last letter yet. The unlikely confidants had been writing back and forth over the summer, trying to deduce where the missing pages from the Book of Necromancy were going to turn up. James hoped that his father, being the auror investigating the Jacob Zagyva case—he had died using a spell from the book—would eventually figure it out but if he had, he had kept it secure from all of the younger generation's snooping. Bel had not heard a thing from their snooping in the Malfoy Manor either. Halfway through the summer, everyone had become convinced it was probably no use, but they all continued to search regardless.

As the summer advanced, they began corresponding about other things that happened. James often telling Bel some funny prank he or Teddy had pulled, or Albus's latest antics. Bel was glad to hear from him, she, Scorpius, and Cat had been shut up in the Manor for most of the summer, and being nosy could only fill so many hours. She would send James news of Cat's newest skirt burning incident or something beef-headed that Scorpius had said or done. Both of them were glad to have some outside interaction, especially James who had been feeling rather isolated lately.

The summer had changed James's two best friends. Victoire and Teddy had started spending a great deal of time together, just the two of them. At first, James hadn't really noticed…the two had always been close. However, after the first two and a half weeks, the excuse of "herbology tutoring" just wasn't cutting it. James wasn't as thick as they thought. Maybe that was actually how it had started, but the dynamics between the two were rapidly changing. First it had been their little tutoring sessions, then it had evolved into private moments talking under the apple tree together. James had seen how happy they looked, laughing and smiling at each other without a care in the world. Recently, they had started disappearing for hours at a time, talking to each other in someone's room or taking long walks.

A few days ago, James had seen Teddy wrap his arm around Victoire, blushing madly. She'd grinned up at him, looking like it was Christmas morning. In that second, any doubts he had clung to evaporated, they fancied each other. At first, James had been happy for them. They made a decent couple. James still spent time with them, but they were too absorbed in their new relationship to really notice he was there. In fact, he could've thrown a pile of dung bombs at them, he doubted they would've lost the dreamy look. After a few days of this, he began to scheme ways to embarrass them in front of the adults. They had opened a giant can of worms in James's opinion, he didn't want to deal with the eventual break-up. Soon however, James began to feel lonely. They had hardly spent any time with him that summer and whenever they did, it felt uncomfortably different. James started to worry they would never have the same friendship again.

The loneliness never really left James, but soon he became bitter. He was angry at the two of them for leaving him out. He was angry at them for seemingly forgetting about him. Mostly, he was angry at them because they still hadn't bothered to tell him. It wasn't like he was an idiot, but they seemed to have no idea that he the slightest clue. It didn't look like they planned on telling him any time soon either.

James soon slid into a state of perpetual annoyance, being vexed had just taken too much energy. Writing to Bel had been his salvation, she was a wonderful person to vent to. For whatever reason, he felt like he could put every pent up aggression into his letters to her. She understood being left out as well as anyone, having been locked up in the Malfoy Manor for most of her life. They also had both grown up under a shroud of secrecy adults had smothered them under, keeping them from knowing much of anything. Speaking of the adults, none of them knew about Victoire and Teddy yet. They had all been too busy to notice. As James finally managed to return to his Potions essay, his door burst open for the third time in a span of ten minutes. He was starting to understand how the Fat Lady must feel.

Teddy appeared in the doorway. "Dress robes? James! They're making me get dress robes this year! They weren't on Torie's list, I was wondering if they're on yours."

James shook his head. He was glad he did not need the things, he had heard one too many horror stories from Uncle Ron.

"Well then, I reckon they're for the Solstice Ball since it's fourth years and above."

James nodded, still not speaking. Teddy smiled, proud to be entering his fourth year at Hogwarts. Teddy, James, and Victoire were so close at school that he often forgot they were all in different years. This summer alone, Teddy, who was already tall for his age, seemed to have shot up two inches. Victoire had grown a little as well but not as noticeably. She had always been beautiful, in the way that made other girls jealous.

"You all right mate?" Teddy asked turning his hair green. James gritted his teeth. "I'm fine."

Teddy raised a lime green eyebrow. "All right, if you say so."

In that moment, he was glad Teddy had left. He was starting to lose patience with the pair of them. When were they going to bother to tell him? What else were they keeping from him? He began to wonder if they really wanted him around anymore. It certainly didn't feel like it.

Yet again, James's bedroom door opened. At least it wasn't quite as violent this time as the previous three attempts at entry. In the door was his mother, a smudge of dirt on her nose. She smiled gently at him as she took a seat at the foot of his bed.

At least she's happy to see me, he thought.

Ginny stuck out her hand. "This just came for you."

James tried to grin. "Thanks." James stood up to leave, his Potions homework already forgotten, suddenly feeling that the walls of his room were closing in.

"Who have you been writing to so secretively?" his mother asked. "Should I worry? Do you have some girlfriend you haven't told us about? You know, if that's it, we'll find out eventually!"

"No." James laughed dryly. _If only you knew the half of it._

James's bad mood persisted all the way down the stairs, through the hall, and all the way out to the back lawn. It seemed Teddy had gone back to de-gnoming and moved behind the house. There was just one gnome left. James was just too riled up to let this opportunity go to waste. He slipped the letter in his trouser pocket and took the last gnome left by its feet, swung it with a vicious strength, and chucked it as far as he could. It wailed in protest. He waved while he watched it fly away.

Teddy whistled, "Nothing's a better solution for anger than watching a gnome fly." Teddy morphed his face to resemble that of a gnome and James couldn't help but laugh. Between the gnome and Teddy's remarkably potato-like face, his bad mood was temporarily forgotten.

James seated himself under an apple tree in the yard and pulled out Bel's letter. The envelope carried his name in Bel's handwriting, though it was sloppier than usual. The quill marks were scratchy and blended between letters, making it appear as if Bel had sent it in a hurry. It read:

Dear James,

I'm sorry to report that barely anything has happened since my last letter. Your letters and Cat's new attempts at arson have been our most reliable sources of excitement here at the manor. Since I wrote you last, Scorp decided it was a good idea to shove a load of peppermint imps in his mouth at once. It was not a good idea. Cat then decided to try and outdo him. It was an even worse idea. I have barely seen Uncle Lucius, Aunt Narcissa, or Uncle Draco this week. I assume that Uncle Lucius is spending a great heap of time traveling and in his study but I am not sure of the other two. All conversations they have are behind closed doors and have become even more secretive. I think they actually caught on to us, because they charm the doors behind them so we can't hear their conversations.

Letters from Hogwarts must be coming out any day now. Until then, we wait. I imagine we might go and get our new supplies the day after we get our letters but I'm not sure. The adults may go without us. So, with luck I'll see you at Diagon Alley and if not then, we'll all try to meet in the back corner of the platform.

See you soon, Bel

Bel paced around her room. She had almost gotten caught! It was getting harder and harder to send letters to James. She'd already been almost caught in the act, this was the third time. If it was anyone else, even another Gryffindor, it would probably be different, but it was James Potter who shared her secret. And Uncle Lucius would implode if he found out about the letter let alone that all of the Potters had figured out who she was at the end of last year. She wondered if the Potters would've cared but did not know much about them. Of course, she knew the stories about Harry Potter, any educated witch or wizard would, although she had been forced to find them out piecemeal last year. She had even met him one afternoon but from the impression she made, she wasn't sure he'd want her hanging around with his son anyway. They had not met in good circumstances, to say the least.

The last two times she was caught she said she was writing to her fictitious friend, Rina, but she felt that they were growing suspicious. She always had to scrawl his name on the envelope at the last minute, a nerve wracking process. This was yet another reason she was looking forward to next term starting so soon. The professors actually encouraged friendships between the houses.

The inhabitants of the Malfoy Manor had never been more secretive. They hadn't been able to find out anything at all. Even the summer meeting of the ex-Death Eaters had failed to happen. It was almost as if they had halted their mission until the children returned to school. But this couldn't be true, the elder Malfoys were barely ever seen, meaning the children were often confined to their rooms, the tutoring annex, and the dining hall. Bel felt the effects of extreme boredom inside the huge, empty house. All three of them had finished their homework for the summer within the first week, so there was just nothing to do. James's letters had been the highlight of their summer. Often Bel read them aloud in the garden.

James's letters, besides being the only contact the three had with the outside world, was their best source of entertainment. He was a very comical prankster and seemed to be constantly in some sort of trouble. Bel was surprised how much he shared in the letters and when reading them to Cat and Scorpius, often left some parts out that she wasn't sure he would want read by others. Bel didn't know why she did this, it just felt like it was the right thing to do.

Bel felt bad about his being in the middle of the Teddy and Victoire situation. She understood what it was like to be the odd man out. At least he had a family to fall back on, not to say she didn't love the Malfoys or anything. They were family technically —aunts and cousins—but it just wasn't the same. Bel continued to be astonished with his openness when he shared how he felt about the situation. Bel enjoyed being the one to know what was going on for once. She felt that she knew him now, at least a little bit. This was something she was nervous for when the term started. She didn't know how things would go when they went back. Would they even speak to each other? Would they be friends now? Cat and Scorpius seemed just as nervous as she was.

Cat was currently lying face down on Bel's bed. Her brown hair flared out around her as she made an annoyed noise that was muffled by Bel's mattress. Cat was taking their confinement worse than Bel. She had grown accustomed to freedom after her year at Hogwarts, it was hard to return to their little world agin. She longed for any excuse to leave their rooms, even if it would get them stuck in them until the end of the summer. Cat just couldn't take another second of board games and rehashing the same arguments.

Cat turned over on Bel's bed. Her Persian, Snowball, nipped gently at her feet. Her fluffy tail sent a shower of white hair onto Bel's black silk sheets. She wished she could repel the hair with magic but she very well knew she was not allowed to use magic over the summer, and had decided charming her sheets were not worth the risk of using the loophole she had found last year. This proved to be the bane of her existence.

Cat growled. "I just want to burn the bloody idio-"

"Ouch!" Scorpius howled.

Cat had accidentally rolled off the bed and landed on, Scorpius who had been napping on a fluffy rug. He groaned in protest and clutched his stomach where she had accidentally elbowed him. He looked a little green.

"Sorry Scorp." Cat whispered gently.

Scorpius sent her a deathly glare but she could tell he wasn't really mad. Cat giggled, not finding his glare even the slightest bit menacing. She actually thought he looked more constipated than fearsome. Bel tried not to, but failed, clutching her stomach as she howled with laughter. Scorpius grunted and stalked off into his own room.

After much coaxing, they managed to make Scorpius join them again. They busied themselves with a game of Exploding Snap. Fortunately, it was an unusually long game and lasted the better part of an hour. In the end, Scorpius won, lifting his spirits considerably. He then became engrossed in a copy of Quidditch Weekly, and transitioned into a long and incredibly dull rant about broomstick handles that Cat and Bel only half listened to. Bel and Cat were just about to start another game when Astoria entered the room.

"Hello, children." She beamed, handing each one a letter. "These came today and I thought you might like to see your new lists. Lucius and Narcissa will take you into Diagon Alley first thing tomorrow."

She kissed Scorpius on the cheek before exiting and then made her way down the hall. Though there was only a minuscule number of new items to be retrieved, the three were overjoyed by any excuse to leave their confinement. They beamed at each other delightedly, cheering, as a card exploded by Bel's foot. She couldn't wait for the following day.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor had always been a Potter family favorite. While their parents were off doing some routine shopping, the Potter children, including the cousins Rose, Hugo, Victoire and Teddy (as always) were enjoying a break with their new supplies in parcels at their feet. Albus and Rose were admiring their new wands and chatting under their breath about how excited they were for the coming term. Victoire was focusing on her new books, Homelife and Social Habits of British Muggles: Updated Edition! Now featuring Modern Muggle Technology and Slang by Wilhelm Wigworthy for Muggle Studies and All About Ancient Runes: Dictionary, Translations, and Extensions by Gonnorick Gorenhall (which was bigger than her head), and All About Hieroglyphics and Logograms Gonnorick Gornehall for Ancient Runes.

James neglected his dripping cone of Triple Chocolate Crunch ice cream as his eyes wandered towards a beautiful broomstick that was calling to him from a store window. It was a relatively new make, a Windbreaker. The particular model he was oggling was the astoundingly sensitive Windbreaker 2.0. His eyes practically glazed over as he imagined flaunting it inside the Gryffindor Common Room. He wanted a new broom more than anything. He currently shared a household one with his two siblings which was an outdated Clean Sweep. He knew he wouldn't be able to bring it to Hogwarts. His parents were no help either. He had never been allowed to so much as touch either of their Firebolts.

The more James longed for the new broom, the more he could imagine himself riding it, all the way to the House Cup. From the corner of his eye, James could see Teddy admiring it too. Although he actually owned a broom, it paled in comparison. James noticed that Teddy and Victoire's chairs had been pushed close together. Their knees brushed under the table and their hands hovered exceedingly close to each other. James scoffed.

"What's up with you, James?" Teddy asked. "The two of you, that's what." James lowered his voice. "Trying to act all secretive. Look, elf's caught the sock, I already know you two fancy each other. It's obvious."

Both Victoire and Teddy turned crimson. They were frozen in the hot summer air. They looked like they were about to start projectile vomiting blast-ended skrewts. "How'd you know? How long?" asked Teddy.

James scoffed again. "It doesn't matter. I just picked up on things. And since the first-second week of summer."

Victoire turned to James. "Oh no, you're mad. Teddy, I knew he'd be mad! Please, try to understa-" James cut her off. "I'm only mad because you gits didn't tell me. You know how annoying it's been? You guys running off without me all summer? I don't care if you guys get all cozied up and act all couple-like around me. It's better than not seeing you guys at all. Marginally."

Teddy focused on the ground, looking guilty. Victoire spoke in a low mumble. "I'm really sorry James. I thought you would be upset about us. Well, I guess you are now, but that was our fault. Please don't stay mad." Victoire looked into his eyes. She looked so sorry, and so did Teddy. He felt a tight knot in his chest being released. He could only stay angry at his best friends for so long. "Alright, alright, I haven't actually been mad for a while. Just don't pull anything like that again. I'll help keep everyone put off it, just don't keep me out, okay?"

This time it was Teddy who spoke. "Thanks. Sorry again, mate. Should've known we couldn't get anything past you." He winked. James saw Victoire and Teddy intertwine their fingers under the table. James winked back, knowing things would be different now but hoping it would be for the best.

Bel, Cat, and Scorpius wound their way through Diagon Alley. They had finished their necessary shopping and had been sent away by Lucius and Narcissa who went to talk to some business correspondents in The Three Broomsticks, something they would have desperately liked to hear. The triad took to the street, meandering through the stalls, looking at all the enticing things to buy. Scorpius was holding a large sack of gold filled with a very small portion of his inheritance. Though he had his own broom, his eyes swept to them wherever they went. It was an old child's broom and besides, Scorpius didn't believe in having too many brooms.

Cat busied herself with a wand cleaning kit, comparing it to another model she'd seen last year. She scowled as this one, it did not have the same polish as the one she had seen last time. She moved on to looking at cosmetic potions, one for hair regrowth was stocked closest to the front. The bottle showed an ugly old hag with flowing blonde locks down to her ankles. When Cat and Bel saw this, they collapsed into a fit of laughter. Next to that potion was one that caught Bel's eye. It was a silver substance in a small blue vial. It said hair tamer.

Bel's dark disorder of hair was the farthest thing from tame. Her curls often swallowed small household objects, including brushes and combs. She picked up the blue vial and brought it to the front of the stall. A young witch who was very pretty read the vial and then looked Bel up and down. She looked just like a person who would run a cosmetics line, with perfect hair, makeup and the most stylish robes on the market. She handed the clerk a few silver coins to pay and the clerk gave her a bag. "Nice choice," she whispered.

Bel trudged back to where Scorpius was now attempting to buy Dungbombs. As he was about to pay, Cat and Bel shared a look. Bel held Scorpius back as Cat extracted the weapon of nasal destruction and carefully put it back in the stack.

Scorpius looked enraged. "What was that for?"

Cat's face carried a look of wariness. "Because, as much as I love some good mayhem, I like the current smell of our common room more. Especially because when Filch finds out about this, your guts will be splattered all over the corridors."

Scorpius whined. "CAT! NO! Don't cross over to the side of reason! That's what we have Bel for. We can't afford to lose you, such a crucial member of whimsicality."

Bel grinned evilly and looped her arm around Cat's. "Sorry Scorp but seeing you desperate is just too much fun. I'm afraid we'd better lie low for a while."

Scorpius searched the streets, looking for the large gang of Potters and Weasleys. He wasn't actually sure if they were going to be there…they hadn't had time to send a return owl. As the three had nothing left to buy and were done with their light—and potentially foul-smelling—shopping, they went to search for James, Teddy, and Victoire. After dissuading Scorpius from both his attempts to buy a portable swamp and to enter Knocturn Alley, they found themselves outside an ice cream parlor. They couldn't believe their luck when they saw a boy with bright purple hair waving to them. Bel noticed that Teddy and Victoire were sitting very close together and she grinned.

"How's the happy couple?" Bel whispered.

James positively beamed at Bel. Teddy and Victoire, however, found this far from entertaining. They turned bright red and subconsciously moved farther apart, looking around frantically to make sure none of the younger additions of the family heard.

Victoire glowered at James accusingly. "You told her?"

James held his hand over his mouth, pretending to look guilty. "Oops!"

Cat shrieked. "I KNEW IT! I knew it! I knew it! Scorpius, pay up!"

At this point, Scorpius looked from Teddy to Victoire, and down at their twined hands and sunk down in the wicker chair. Cat nudged Scorpius, putting a hand on her hip and holding the other one out in front of her. Cat looked quite pleased as Scorpius rolled his eyes and emptied five galleons into her hand. Cat was waving her winnings in all of their faces when a tall man made his way toward them.

Lucius was not happy, to say the least, when he saw who Bel, Cat, and Scorpius were fraternizing with. He forced a cruel smile onto his face as he strode over to them. His eyes flitted from James and Albus first, then to Lily and the other Weasley children. "Do I see two Potters? And what a surprise! Oh look how many Weasleys! It seems that history has repeated itself. Your family has always had more children than could be…well…financially supported."

Lilly rolled her eyes, resigned to being being grouped with her cousins instead of her elder brothers. Victoire looked offended, clearly not pleased with the man's assumptions about her family, although unsure if she had been included in the statement or not. She was usually not confrontational, so it came as a surprise when she stood. She had a dangerous look on her face. "You must be Lucius Malfoy. Don't you worry. I assure you, we get along just fine. Mr. Malfoy, why don't you sit down? You aren't looking well… I'm sure no one would think any lesser of you if you took a brief minute to relax." She offered her chair to him.

Bel was fairly certain she saw a vein popping on her uncle's forehead. For a brief moment he looked murderous, but he quickly changed his expression. Scorpius realized the fingers he used to clutch his walking stick were white. "Thank you for your concern, Dear, but I assure you that a rest will not be necessary. I have come to collect these three." Lucius pointed to them with his cane. "Come along now, children. We must be getting on our way. Say goodbye to your…friends."

Scorpius, Cat, and Bel, slightly embarrassed by their guardian's behavior, waved sheepishly as they scrambled down the alley. The family waved to them, all slightly taken aback. Teddy muttered some nasty words under his breath and Victoire burned a hole in the back of Lucius's head until he disappeared from sight.


	21. An Illicit Meeting

An Illicit Meeting

The night before leaving to catch the Hogwarts Express, Bel retrieved her bottle of hair potion from where she had been saving it at the back of her dresser drawer. The parchment strip glued to the bottle contained directions written in minuscule smudged handwriting, and she plopped down on her bed to decipher it. "Wet hair…carefully pour…something drops…onto moist cloth…rug…no rub cloth over hair…let dry overnight," she muttered. That seems easy enough, but I probably better use a lot, my hair is impossible.

After her shower, Bel took her washcloth and dumped half of the little bottle onto it. "Looks fine so far," Bel smushed the cloth together, and then began rubbing it vigorously into her sopping hair. After a few seconds, it began to get harder, until the potion had congealed into a wax-like mess all over her head. Neither soap nor attacking it with her comb made any difference whatsoever. In fact, several tines broke off the comb and became stuck in the wax. Bel looked at her reflection in the floor length mirror. A pixielike girl stared back at her. It had her own pale face and green eyes, but its curly black hair was stuck in gravity defying positions, and refused to move an inch. If it's still like this by morning, I'll just have to hope that Aunt Astoria can get it off. But there's still a chance that it'll work. I probably just used too much.

The first ray of sunlight hit Bel's eyes and she rolled over and groaned before remembering what day it was and sitting up in bed with a jolt. She grinned when she saw her reflection in the mirror on top of her dresser. The waxy substance was gone, although her hair was so matted against her head it was impossible to tell whether or not the Hair Taming Potion had worked. Bel began to work her comb through her hair, careful not to scratch her head with the broken bits. Sure enough, her hair fell straight and thick with just a hint of wave in the wake of the brush.

Not bothering to get dressed, Bel flew out of her room and began to bang on Cat's door. After a solid minute of unearthly racket, her friend blearily opened the door. She stared blankly at Bel for a few moments before jumping backwards with a sharp yelp.

"How do you like it?" Bel asked breathlessly, shaking her straightened tresses and grinning at her shocked friend.

Cat considered Bel for a few moments before speaking. "It certainly is different…you look a little closer to your real age than you usually do. More like a third year. You're not planning to try to do this everyday, are you?" It certainly makes you look less like Her but more like HIM. Not sure if that's a good thing. Not sure if they're going to let you go to the station like that.

Bel laughed delightedly, spinning in front of her friend. "It's way too much work to do every day, but I have to admit it's probably the only day I can remember that I ever managed to get all the tangles out!" She raced past a sandy-eyed Scorpius who had been driven out of bed to investigate the noise, and stood blinking at her in confusion before retreating back behind his door. Bel threw on some clothes before dragging her already jammed-to-the-gills trunk unthinkingly down the stairs. She was the first one at breakfast, other than Saeth who refused to comment on her hair even when asked point blank.

"Mistress looks beautiful every day, of course," Saeth stubbornly replied as she served Bel scrambled eggs and sausage.

Cat and Scorpius joined her soon afterward, and they had nearly finished by the time any of the adults deigned to come down, barely half an hour before they were due to leave for King's Cross Station. Aunt Astoria arrived first as usual, and laughed with delight when she caught sight of Bel. "You straightened your hair! It looks wonderful dear, just the way to start off the new school year." She swept around the table to where Bel sat before enveloping her with an apple scented hug. "Is it perhaps for a special someone?" She whispered conspiratorially, "Don't worry I wouldn't tell a soul!"

Bel turned slightly pink and shook her head, her concentration suddenly absorbed by the last scraps of eggs on her plate. Scorpius and Cat burst out laughing and proceeded to derive great enjoyment from speculating on their friend's secret crush. Prime suspects included The Bloody Baron and Peeves.

Uncle Draco trailed in only a few minutes behind his wife and took the chair next to her. Although he did not join in the fun, Bel could have sworn he hid a few smiles behind his copy of the Daily Prophet. Their merriment was interrupted by the arrival of Aunt Narcissa who dropped her teacup upon seeing Bel and promptly rushed out of the room. Saeth stopped refilling the pitcher of Pumpkin Juice and had fished almost all of the china shards out of the thick rug before Aunt Narcissa returned accompanied by Uncle Lucius.

Uncle Lucius took one look at Bel and sighed, shaking his head, before sinking into the chair at the head of the table. Bel attempted an innocent smile, but it did not want to stick under his rueful gaze. "What have you done to your hair?" he asked calmly, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"She straightened it. Isn't it wonderful!" Aunt Astoria replied oblivious to the sudden tension in the air.

Still looking calmly at Bel, never sparing Astoria even a glance, Uncle Lucius continued speaking. "I can see that she straightened it, I am trying to find out how."

Bel felt her stomach attempt to hide behind her spine. She wasn't sure why everyone except Aunt Astoria was so concerned, but that wasn't exactly comforting. "I bought it from one of the stalls in Diagon Alley. Extra-Strength Hair Tamer. I thought it might make it a bit more manageable."

Uncle Lucius said nothing but raised his eyebrows as he turned to look at Aunt Narcissa who was standing behind his chair looking a little paler than usual. "It's impossible to remove. It just has to wear off. Thankfully it only takes about a day."

"You'll just have to go as you are," Uncle Lucius proclaimed. "Is there any left?"

"About half the bottle," Bel muttered.

A few moments later the little bottle streaked down the staircase and landed in the coals with a little puff of silver smoke. No one spoke for the rest of breakfast. While the trunks and cages were being loaded into the back of the Mercedes, Bel sat on the back bench seat between Cat and Scorpius.

"Would someone please explain to me why everyone acted as if I had decided to shave my head this morning?" Bel asked, confusion and frustration boiling over.

"It's not that it looks bad or anything," Cat began cautiously. "It actually looks quite good but…did you look in the mirror this morning?"

"Of course I did!" Bel snapped. "It looks straight. Or at least as close as I'm ever likely to get. Even the Extra-Strength one didn't get rid of all of the wave."

"That might be part of the problem…" Cat trailed off, not quite sure how to continue.

"What Cat is trying to get at is that you don't look like Bellatrix anymore. Congratulations. Now you look like him. They're all scared that someone will notice…well, everyone but my mother."

Bel sat quietly for a moment, watching the adults talk nervously outside the windows. "Shite."

"It should wear off by tomorrow," Cat said hopefully. "Just try not to talk to any of the Professors or anything till then. Not like anyone our age will notice. Except the Gryffindors, but they know already."

Bel had started to turn a pale shade of green. "I'm not so sure about that. I used over half a bottle. Way more than I should have. It would probably work on normal hair for weeks." Bel began to laugh. "This is probably the only time in my entire life I will be grateful for having hair that refuses to obey the rules of nature."

Soon, Cat and Scorpius had joined her and the car shook with laughter that could not be quelled even by Uncle Lucius's glares and dark protestations about taking the situation seriously.

The first crisp red leaves of autumn were beginning to fall on the first of September. The inevitable chaos of getting so many children's trunks packed in the car, and the children themselves settled in the seats was only intensified by the addition of Albus and Rose. It was impossible to keep the confusion safely contained in their separate houses and it inevitably spread out into the quiet side street in Godric's Hollow. Belongings always migrated over the summer, and it seemed as if any item forgotten until the last minute had been left in a different house than its owner resided in.

This phenomenon was particularly intense this year, as, unbeknownst to their guardians, the playroom in the attic of the Potter's house had been quietly converted into a clandestine meeting spot. While the series of meetings and verifiable flurries of owls had not actually uncovered anything new about the curious events of the previous school year, they had served to make the shaky partnership slightly more stable. This new camaraderie between the older and younger children had not escaped their parents' notice, but they had been forced to bemusedly conclude that the trauma had caused the older children to take notice of their younger kin, which was-all in all-not a bad outcome.

As usual, the Potters were the last to leave, pulling out of the drive ten minutes behind Ron and Hermione, fifteen behind Bill and Fleur, and a full half hour after Andromeda had come to collect Teddy. Even with all three siblingsand two owl cagesin the backseat, it was not crowded, as the bench was nearly twice as wide as it had any right to be. It was also twice as loud, as James was debating his brother's sorting prospects causing Lily to laugh uproariously.

"You'll never make Ravenclaw…Lily might…but you and I don't have the brains put together," said James grinning broadly.

"I helped with that riddle…" muttered Albus, his cheeks heating up.

"Your skills of reading put us all to shame," smirked James. "Hufflepuff. You could go to Hufflepuff. They'll take anyone! Think of it, sitting around the common room fire for seven years, singing and holding hands. You'd have such a great time!"

Albus sunk further into the cushions of his seat. "That's not fair! Some of the D.A. was in Hufflepuff, right Dad?"

Harry grunted from the front seat, fully engrossed in the London traffic. Ginny looked up momentarily from her notes on the last Quidditch match to reply, "Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot. Several others. There's no shame in being a Hufflepuff. All four houses pull together when it really counts. Even the Slytherins fought in the Battle of Hogwarts."

Albus leaned across Lily toward his brother. "See! I bet you're just taking the micky out of me because the Sorting Hat wanted to put you in Hufflepuff, and you had to beg! Wait, no I bet it wanted to put you in Slytherin!"

James grinned wider than the Cheshire Cat. "Slytherin, now there's an idea. You might be in Slytherin! Live underground and have the color leeched out of you! Perhaps you'll turn into a ghost. You just never know what the Hat'll do. Totally unpredictable."

Albus looked slightly green but managed to retort, "Even I know you don't turn into a ghost by living underground. Really James what did you do all last year…moon over some girl?" just before the car pulled to the curb outside of King's Cross and he jumped out of the car before James could grab him.

Shoving their trunks and owls onto trollies, the two brothers walked at the head of their family, still bickering. A few steps behind them walked their parents and sister, engrossed in their own world and surrounded by the swirling mass of muggles moving around them.

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Harry told her.

"A whole year," sniffed Lily. "I want to go now! I'm gonna miss so much…"

Harry laughed, grinning at the misunderstood dismay on his daughter's face. "The castle will still be there, I promise."

Lily sighed, muttering "It's not the castle I'm worried about missing out on," too low for her father to hear.

The owls perched in cages on top of red leather trunks drew several curious glances from muggles, and a few squeals from young children. But on the whole the little party was ignored in the bustle of the busy station. Most of the inhabitants were simply too busy with their own cares to spare more than a passing thought for the unusual. As they approached the barrier between platforms nine and ten, a lull in the crowd allowed the renewed strains of their sons' argument to drift back to Harry and Ginny's ears.

"I won't! I won't be a Slytherin!"

"James, give it a rest!" said Ginny.

"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at his younger brother. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slytherin."

But upon seeing his mother's warning glare he fell silent. The family approached the barrier, taking advantage of the break in muggle traffic caused by the departure of the Edinburgh train to cross inconspicuously. Tossing a cocky grin at his brother over his shoulder, James adjusted his grip on his trolly and tilted at the barrier. The bricks rippled momentarily at his passage before returning to their apparently solid state.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked his parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother.

"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny.

"Not every day," said Albus quickly, "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Ginny.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

Walking beside Albus toward the barrier Lily hissed in his ear, "You'd better write me and Hugo about what's really going on-not just the stuff you tell Mum and Dad!"

Albus grunted as he pushed his trolly faster, following his parents toward the bricks. Lily ran alongside his trolley before darting ahead at the last minute to pass through with Ginny. Albus squeezed his eyes shut an instant before he hit the bricks, but instead of the impact he dreaded, he encountered a wall of noise. Great puffs of steam screamed out of the scarlet engine. An enormous crowd milled about within the steam, and sparks hung occasionally in the heavy mist.

"Where are they?" asked Albus anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," said Ginny reassuringly.

The thick water vapor muffled voices and obscured faces, making it hard to really see anyone standing more than ten feet away. Detached from their owners, voices bounced around the platform, and snatches of conversations mingled together in the air. Somewhere Percy had found someone to listen to broomstick regulations, and the Potters hurried past, hidden in the mist.

"I think that's them, Al," said Ginny suddenly.

A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Although their faces only came into focus when Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Albus had drawn right up to them, the flaming red hair of three of the figures stood out like beacons.

"Hi," said Albus, immensely relieved to have found at least one of the people he was supposed to be meeting on the train.

Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him. She leaned closer to whisper, "Bel is only one carriage down, but I haven't seen anyone else, have you?"

Albus shook his head. "James ran through the barrier ahead, I haven't seen him since."

"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confound the examiner."

"No, I didn't," said Hermione, "I had complete faith in you."

"As a matter of fact, I did Confund him," Ron whispered to Harry, as together they lifted Albus's trunk and owl onto the train. "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror,

and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."

While their parents had been occupied with catching up, Lily and Hugo had been commiserating about how much they were likely to miss being stuck at home an extra year. "Think about it, someone has those pages that we couldn't find. I doubt they were just planning to sell them to Flourish and Blotts," Lily fumed. "And whatever happens, a Knut says that it'll happen at Hogwarts. Everything happens there!"

"Yeah," replied Hugo looking at the ground. We should read the paper or something. Try to see if anything strange is happening."

Lily looked thoughtful. "That's actually a good idea. Everyone always jokes about me ending up in Ravenclaw, but maybe it'll be you instead!"

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Ron, "but no pressure."

"Ron!"

Lily and Hugo laughed nervously, relieved that their parents had only heard the last bit, but Albus and Rose looked solemn. Sorting just hit a little close to home at the moment.

"He doesn't mean it," said Hermione, and Ginny nodded encouragingly, but Ron was no longer paying attention. Catching Harry's eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.

"Look who it is," commented Ron, distaste showing on his face.

Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair had receeded somewhat, even since the end of last year, which emphasized the pointed chin. Scorpius resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again. Albus caught sight of Bel through the mist just beyond the Malfoys, standing near Lucius and Cat. He noticed something was off about her hair, but the gap in the mist closed before he could be sure of what it was.

"So there's Scorpius, so nice to see him again," said Ron under his breath his eyes narrowed. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "They're not even in the same year, don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right…sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, especially after everything that happened last year, Rosie. I met your mother fighting a troll, and Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"That's not how it happened, Ronald," Hermione said with a long suffering look.

"Hey!"

James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam.

"Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing -"

"You interrupted them?" said Ginny. "You are so like Ron —"

With the adults sufficiently distracted, James quietly relayed the rest of the story. "I met Teddy, Victoire and Bel in the back corner like we'd planned. Scorpius and Cat couldn't get away. Teddy's got a reserved sign on compartment 713, we're all meeting there as soon as we can. It's best if the adults don't see us getting on together."

James saw the adults begin to look at them curiously so he continued in a loud voice, "— and then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added as though worried he had not made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" added Lily ecstatically, catching on to the game. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week, and then stays the night," said Harry. "He already has a bed in James' room. What more is required to be a part of the family, Lily?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al-Teddy could have my room!"

"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished. It's bad enough when I have you and Teddy on bunkbeds."

Harry checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"But you know Neville-"

James rolled his eyes. "Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love. . . ."

Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a jab at Albus. "See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible. You said they were invisible!"

James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, and then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things. There's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats with Rose."

Ginny kissed Albus good-bye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," said Harry as his son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

"What if James is right? What if I'm in Slytherin?"

The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Harry crouched down so that Albus's face was almost level with his own. Alone of Harry's three children, Albus had inherited Lily's eyes, although there was a touch of green in his sister's.

"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and he knew that she would be tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who had just boarded the train, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say-"

"-then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry.

He had never told any of his children that before, and he saw the wonder in Albus's face when he said it. "I think the Hat always takes your choice into account if it is truly important to you. If you really need to be in Gryffindor, you will." But now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents swarmed forward for final kisses andlast-minute reminders. Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Harry.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."

Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed.

Albus and Rose walked down carriage five, fighting their way through the crowds of students and billows of magic to compartment 713. "Imagine doing this with no place to go!" Albus shouted over the roar that reverberated through the train.

Rose turned to look at another group of beleaguered first years fighting their way upstream and nodded furiously in agreement. "Didn't Teddy say they just added more carriages? Imagine what it must have been like before! there isn't really room for more than half of us as it is."

Albus grunted, then laughed without humor as he saw the little group seek shelter in one of the door alcoves. The four watched the chaos rush past them with glazed eyes.

"I wish we could invite them to come with us…" Rose said, looking unhappy.

"We can't and you know it!" Albus said vehemently.

"I know, I know, but it's still sad." Rose replied as they crossed into carriage six. It only took a few more minutes to find 713, and it indeed had the promised sign affixed to the door. The cousins slipped gratefully inside.

The youngest were the last to arrive and they found the compartment already filled to bursting. The bench seats weren't really supposed to hold more than three people apiece, and squeezing two more people onto them was an unpleasant process. Even the luggage rack groaned in protest at the magical addition of two more trunks.

Albus ended up sitting across from his brother, and next to a girl with long black hair that he didn't recognize for a few seconds. "You're Bel right? Forgive me if I'm losing my marbles, but I would have sworn that you had curly hair. Like really curly hair."

Bel sighed. "I do. I straightened it last night. It didn't really go as I planned though."

She was cut short by James shouting loudly over the several smaller conversations that had been filling the small space. "I'd love to just sit here and catch up but I think it's obvious to everyone that we can't spend the entire ride like this. It was uncomfortable with six last year and we've got two extra and the rest of us are a year older. Unless anyone can do an Extension Charm, let's do this quickly so we can find another compartment before they're all gone!" This was met by relieved murmurs of assent. "Anyone find anything that they didn't want to put in a letter?"

"Not really," Bel replied. "Nothing that you could put your finger on, but something is going on. Uncle Lucius is never home, and they didn't have that meeting over the summer, you know the one with everyone who stayed out of Azkaban? I was thinking earlier that the only reason that they wouldn't is if they were meeting somewhere else."

"That can't possibly be good for us…" Teddy trailed off from his position squashed against the window.

"No," agreed Scorpius grimly, "especially as we have no idea what's going on. They haven't said anything to us about…the incident…and I would bet anything that my Grandfather knows. We didn't tell them, and McGonagall didn't want to involve him, but still."

"Oh he knows," Bel stated. "I don't know how Uncle Lucius gets his information, but he seems to know about things almost before they happen. If I had to guess I'd say he's trying to find the pages, but there's not really any way to be sure. He's gone all the time, so he's definitely looking for something…What about you? Auror department find anything?"

"Dad's been remarkably tight lipped. You normally can't get him to shut up about work but nothing about anything good. It's like he knows deep down that something about this one doesn't add up but won't admit it to himself." James slumped back into his seat, not looking very happy.

"We even sicced Lily on him. Normally she can get Dad to do just about anything," Albus moaned. "But he actually told her to stop fishing."

"I don't think Dad has even told Mum anything," James added grimacing. "We tried eavesdropping."

"In other words we are exactly where we started at the beginning of the summer. In other words, nowhere," Teddy stood and stretched. "Unless anyone has anything brilliant to add, I suggest we continue this in a few days when we actually have room to breathe."

Scorpius fished a Galleon out of his pocket, holding it over the rocking floor of the compartment. "Heads we stay, tails we leave, that good with everyone?" Hearing no complaints, he tossed it into the air where it wheeled a few times before clattering to the floor, luckily not rolling under the seats. He stared morosely at the side glittering up at them before sighing, "Come on guys, we can probably kick a few first years out of a compartment or something." The Slytherin rescued the coin from the floor before hauling open the door to the compartment so that Bel and Cat could wriggle out.

Albus stood up so that this maneuver was even possible, and found himself standing across from his brother's grinning face.

"Planning to join your future housemates, Albus?" said James grinning broadly.

"You know what James? I think I will," Albus retorted forcefully before passing a startled but laughing Scorpius on the way out, leaving James behind with a look of bemusement plastered onto his face.

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